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COPKRIGHT DEPOSrr. 




THE AUTHOR. 



jjstrononiv and the Bible 

or 6oa'$ tm dnut Books 

nature and Revelation 




-By- 

C»a$. 3- Burton, PD* B. 

President Towa €bri$tian College^ 
0$Kaloo$a» Towa* 




'The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament 
showeth His handiwork". — Psa. 19:1. 



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times Ptibli$Mii8€o. ^s^^i> Osfcaloosa, Towaj90$ 



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LISfiARY of O0NGSES3, 
Two Copies Kecii)ve« 

JUL 2 ^^08 

oust -A AXw n!u. 



Copyright May, 1908, by Chas. J. Burton. 



(V) 

} 
6^ 






PEEPACE. 



The matter contained in this book is the 
result of many years of careful study of Grod 
and Nature. It is one of the author's favor- 
ite fields of investigation, and he has lec- 
tured at various places to appreciative au- 
diences who took more than usual interest 
in the subjects treated. 

The volume treats of the subject in a way 
not found in any other book on the subject. 

PoUowing is the plan: 

Part one: 12 Introductory Lessons on 
the relation of the Bible to Astronomy. 

Part two : 16 Outline Studies in Astron- 
omy. 

Part three : 16 Preparatory Bible Stud- 
ies. 

Part four: 18 Bible lessons in Outline. 
These cover all of ^' Bible History," and 
^^God and His Works.'' In all, 62 lessons. 

The author believes that a profound 
study of Astronomy will lead to greater rev- 
erence for the Creator. 

I would that every one would become a 
student of the heavens,— God's great book 
of nature,— continually open for our medi- 
tation. 

CHAS. J. BURTON, 
Iowa Christian College. 
Oskaloosa Iowa, 
May 11, 1908. 



/ 



ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 



PAET ONE. 



INTEODUCTORY LESSONS. 



LESSON I. PURPOSE AND DESIGN. 



^'For thou hast created all things, and for 
thy pleasure they are and were created/^ 
Rev. 4.: 11. 

Our opening scripture is in the last book 
of the Bible. The careful, observant stud- 
ent will not be surprised to find such expres- 
sions as the above in nearly every portion 
of Grod's word. The divine writers under 
inspiration are a unit as to the origin of all 
things. They came into existence by the di- 
rect power of Jehovah. 

The ^*all things" in the above passage 
mean the same as the ta panta of the Oreek, 



6 ASTKONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 

and they include the entire luiiverse of Grod, 
the whole visible heavens,— sun, moon plan- 
ets and stars. 



What I wish to call yonr attention to 
specially in this lesson is the purpose of Je- 
hovah in creating and upholding the uni- 
verse. It is declared to be for his pleasure, 
It appears evident from the careful study 
of both nature and revelation that Grod 
works according to previous plan, design 
and purpose. ^^This is the purpose that is 
purposed upon the whole earth, and this is 
the hand that is stretched out upon all the 
nations." Isa. 14:26. ^^For the Lord of 
hosts hath purposed, and who shall disannul 
it ^. And his hand is stretched out, and who 
shall turn it back? verse 27. ^'For every 
purpose of the Lord shall be performed 
against Babylon, to make the land of Baby- 
lon a desolation without an inhabitant." 
Jer. 51 :29. ^^For this shall the earth mourn 
and the heavens above be black: because I 
have spoken it, I have purposed it, and will 
not repent, neither Avill I turn back from 
it." Jer. 4:28. '^"Who hath saved us and 
called us with an holy calling, not according 
to our works, but according to his own pur- 



ASTEONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 7 

pose and grace, which was given us in Christ 
Jesus before the world began." 2 Tim. 1:9. 

But the order and beauty of nature teach 
the same lessons of design. We need not 
look beyond the solar system to find evidenc- 
es of design. The arrangement and perfect 
working of all the members of this system 
impress the student that an All-wise Intel- 
ligence planned it, and an Omnipotent hand 
upholds and sustains it. Furthermore, the 
Creator has given the human mind the abil- 
ity to discover the laws by which its five 
hundred to six hundred members are bound 
to the parent sun, and revolve about him 
with perfect order in regular times, at reg- 
ular rates of motion, and at regular distance 
es. This order, beauty and harmony of our 
system, which have been explained on exact 
mathematical principles, will ever continue 
to be so many arguments in favor of design. 

The fact that the volume and dimensions 
of the sun have been measured and its mass 
or material weighed, as well as that of its 
attendant planets, is proof that the human 
mind was made in the image of Jehovah. 
Gen. 1 :26. 

From the above we have the following 
conclusion: First, there was intelligence 



8 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 

onmiscient ; after that, purpose; then the 
divine energy in action, which created the 
universe and now upholds and sustains it. 



LESSON 2. The First Verse of Genesis. 

The Hebrew transliterated is as follows: 
Bereshith hara elohim etl% Jiashamayim 
weeth haarets. When rendered into Eng- 
lish we have, ^^In the beginning God created 
the heavens and the earth/' 

1. '^In the 'beginning." No one knows 
how far back in the history of the past this 
beginning was, but it was certainly very re- 
mote. God has not revealed it. Moses did 
not pretend to say when it was. We must 
be content with what we may be able to learn 
on this subject from science. While the 
Creator has given man searching and in- 
vestigating capacities, yet there are many 
things past finding out in the counsels of 
God, and this may be one of them. 

2. Elohim, ''God/' The name of the 
Supreme Being, which signifies in Hebrew, 
^ ^strong,'' '^mighty.'' El signifies the strong 
God, and nothing less than almighty 
strength could bring all things into exist- 



ASTEONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 9 

ence. While the Hebrew original, Elohim, 
is plural, it does not mean a plurality of 
Grods, but a plurality of persons in the God- 
head,— Father, Son and Holy Spirit. See 
Gen. 1:26. Also read Jno. 1:1-2: ^'In the 
beginning was the Word (logos), and the 
Word was with God, and the Word was God. 
The same was in the beginning with God. 
All things were made by Him ; and without 
Him was not anything made that was 
made." 

Another Hebrew name for the Diety is 
Yehowah, ^' Jehovah/^ the existing One. See 
Isa. 12:2: '^Behold God is my salvation; I 
will trust and not be afraid; for the Lord 
Jehovah is my strength and my song; he 
also is become my salvation. 

In Gen. 17 :1, he is revealed as El Shaddai, 
' ' the Almighty God. ' ' 

3. ''Created/' This is the translation of 
the Hebrew word bar a, which is the strong- 
est of three words used many times in the 
original of the Hebrew Scriptures. It 
means to bring into existence, or cause some- 
thing to be, which before had no existence. 
In this case, it was the universe. 

4. ''The heaven and the earth/' By this 
expression is meant the entire universe of 
God, all material things— sun, moon, plan- 



10 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 

ets, satellites, stars, nebulae, comets, etc. 
' ' Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who 
hath created these things, that bringeth out 
their host by number ; he calleth them all by 
names by the greatness of his might, for 
that he is strong in power; not one faileth." 
Isa. 40 :26. **The sun and the moon and the 
stars, even all the host of heaven." Deut. 4: 
19. ^^God who made the world and all things 
therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven 
and earth, dwelleth not in temples made 
with hands. ' ' Acts 17 :24. 

As we look out upon Jehovah's great uni- 
verse, and behold the beauty, the grandeur 
and the magnificence of his works, either 
with the naked eye or by the help of the tel- 
escope, we are constrained to say in the lan- 
guage of the Psalmist, '^O Lord, how man- 
ifold are thy works ! In wisdom hast thou 
made them all ; the earth is full of thy rich- 
es." Psa. 104:24. 

From all of these considerations, we have 
three conclusions, summed up in one, viz: 
Atheism is folly; agnosticism is puerility; 
and infidelity is insanity. The atheist is the 
greatest of fools. ^^The fool hath said in his 
heart, there is no God.^^ Psa. 14:1. 



ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 11 

LESSON 3. The Building of the Universe. 

''But He ivho huilt all things is God/^ 
Heb. 3:4. ''Through faith we understand 
that the tvorlds tvere framed hy the word of 
God, so that things tvhich are seen were not 
made out of things tvhich do appear/^ Heb. 
11:3. 

Not only the solar system, but the entire 
universe was most likely a growth, a devel- 
opment. God first created the material. 
Then, ont of the created material. He built, 
prepared or constructed the universe. This 
is in accord with the perfection of other 
things attributed to God. It took sixteen 
hundred years for God to make, construct, 
or write the Bible. And it seems evident 
that it took a long time, probably ages, for 
the Creator to build the beautiful universe 
as we now see it from, or out of, the original 
chaos. Read carefully the first chapter of 
Genesis entire. We are not, then, to look 
upon the magnificent display of stars, neb- 
ulae and comets as being instantly set into 
the heavens as they appear today, but we are 
to think of them as having come to their 
present state of beauty and order through a 
long process of developm^ent. 



12 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 

The word translated ^^builf in Heb. 3:4, 
is from the Greek, kataskevadzo, which 
means to make, to prepare, to construct. Let 
us illustrate. ^^For there was a tabernacle 
miade (kateskeuasthe) ; the first wherein 
was the candlestick, etc., Heb. 9:2. ^^By 
faith, Noah being warned of Grod of things 
not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared 
(kateskeuasen) an ark to the saving of his 
house,'' Heb. 11:7. Of course the taber- 
nacle and the ark were constructed out of 
pre-existing material, and so we reason that 
God constructed or built the universe from 
the material which he had previously creat- 
ed. 

It appears evident that the growth and 
development of the universe is progressive 
and continuous. Nothing is at rest. Every- 
thing is in motion, and change is seen on the 
very face of the sky. Reasoning from an- 
alogy we have, first the acorn ; then the ten- 
der plant: after that the strong oak of a 
hundred pears; and after that— decay and 
death. This seems to be God's method ev- 
erywhere. Look at the changes which have 
come over our earth during past ages ! Shall 
we say that the earth was horn"^ That it 
was once young? What is its age now? 
What stage has it reached? And what is 



ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 13 

to become of it ? It certainly has a destiny. 
Eead 2 Pet. 3 :10. What is true of the earth 
is most likely true of the whole visible uni- 
verse of God. ^^The heavens shall vanish 
away like smoke, and the earth shall wax 
old like a garment." Isa. 51:6. ^^Of old hast 
thou laid the foundation of the earth, and 
the heavens are the work of thy hands. They 
shall perish, but thou shalt endure : Yea, all 
of them shall wax old like a garment; as a 
vesture shalt thou change them, and they 
shall be changed." Psa. 102 :25-26. 

Now, coming back to the original thought 
of this lesson, the Great Master Builder or 
Architect of the heavens is God (Theos). 
^^He who built all things is God." ^^God 
who made the world and all things therein, 
seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, 
dwelleth not in temples made with hands." 
Acts 17 :24. It is certain that the apostolic 
idea— the Christian conception of the uni- 
verse is, that God made all. ^^For of him, 
and through him, and to him, are all things." 
Eom. 11:36. ''But to us there is but one 
God, the Father, of whom are all things, and 
we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by 
whom are all things and we by him," 1 Cor. 
8:6. 



14 ASTKOXOMY AXD THE BIBLE. 

The closing thought of this lesson is the 
following: That what the Creator under- 
took to do and to commence, he carried to 
completion. ^'Thus the heavens and the 
earth were finished, and all the host of 
them," Gren. 2:1. How milike God is man 
in this respect ! Many men and women be- 
gin, it may be, noble undertakmgs, but on 
account of difficulties and perhaps for other 
reasons, they becume discouraged and dis- 
continue the work so well begun. But not 
so with Jehovah. He carries forward to 
completion all of his undertakings. It may 
take him long epochs of time, but he will 
bring it to pass. 



LESSOX 4. OlJE AXXLTAL ExCUESIOX ARorxD 

THE SUX. 

^^He stretclieth out the north over the 
empty place, and hangeth the earth upon 
nothing/' Job 26:7. 

The most wonderful thought for the con- 
sideration and reflection of man is the fact 
that our earth, with its cargo of fiften hun- 
di^ed millions of human beings, is flying 
through space at the rate of eighteen and 



ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 15 

a half miles per second, night and day, and 
never stopping. But the great masses of 
humanity never stop to consider. 

The earth is suspended in space, or in the 
language of Job, ''hung upon nothing/' 
but it is constantly in motion, and is held to 
the central sun by the invisible power, known 
as the attraction of gravitation. The law 
in natural philosophy is, that a body once 
in motion moves in a straight line, unless 
acted upon by some external force. The 
^'external'' force, in this case, is the sun. 
The earth has a tendency to move in a 
straight line, but the sun will not allow it 
to do so, and therefore it revolves around 
him. 

We will start on our annual excursion 
around the sun January the first, and take 
note of the beautiful things we see on the 
journey. Every thoughtful person has no- 
ticed the changes on the face of the sky at 
different times of the year. Those stars 
and constellations which pass the meridian 
in the early part of the night at the middle 
of January will have floated westward 30 
degrees by the middle of February. The 
reason of this is, that the earth has actually 
moved eastward 30 degrees in its revolution 



16 ASTEONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 

around the sun, leaving those objects be- 
hind. In reality, the stars have not moved 
westward, but the earth has moved east- 
ward. 

To get the most out of this journey, keep 
your text-book on Astronomy and your Bi- 
ble close at hand ; and do not forget to take 
along with you a blank book of something 
like a hundred pages. This blank book will 
be very valuable to you, if you will carefully 
note doT\Ti the results of your observations 
during the journey. 

1. January, The face of the sky at night 
during the month of January is rich in 
magnificent scenery; and he who fails to 
profit by study and reflection has missed his 
opportunity till another January has come. 
Taurus, the Bull, crossed by the ecleptic, is 
prominent this month; and south of this 
constellation is Orion, the Hunter. Look 
to the north of Taurus and you will find 
Aurega, the Charioteer. There are other 
constellations, but these are the prominent 
ones. Some of the magnificent objects to 
pass the meridian between eight and ten 
o'clock at night are these: The Pleiades, 
(Job 38:31), Aldeberan, a star of the first 




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ASTEONOMT AND THE BIBLE. 17 

magnitude, pale rose in color, and 28 light 
years from our system; Bellatrix, Rigel, 
Betalgense and Capella, which is 34 light 
years from us and emits 250 times as much 
light as our Sun. See a good map for the 
location of these stars. 

2. February. The January stars have 
now moved westward (apparently), and 
some new constellations will pass the merid- 
ian early in the night during February. 
You will find the constellation of Gemini, 
the Twins, in the Zodiac and crossed by 
the ecliptic. To the southwest is Canis 
Minor, and way down in the scuthern 
heavens is Canis Major, Note down on 
your note book and study the following 
stars : 

(1). Sirius, the brightest star in the 
heavens, eight and a half light years from 
the solar system. 

(2). Castor and PoUox in Gemini, a lit- 
tle north of the ecliptic. These two stars 
are near each other and PoUox is the bright- 
er of the two. 

(3). Procyon, a first magnitude star in 
Canis Minor is nine and a half light years 
from the earth. 

3. March, The February stars have 
floated on toward the west, and now we will 



18 .ASTEOXOINIY AXD THE BIBLE. 

study other objects. You will note that we 
are mentioning only the more prominent ob- 
jects as we pass along, but I trust you will 
consider the smaller ones in detail and keep 
the results of your observations in your 
blank book. The constellation of Cancer is 
crossed by the ecliptic. Portions of TJrsa 
Major, Lynx, Leo and Leo Minor are in 
the northern heavens, while Sextans, Hy- 
dra, Monoceros and Argo are south of the 
ecliptic. 

While there are few bright stars to be 
seen in this portion of our lesson, yet there 
are some interesting objects for oui^ obser- 
vation and reflection. 

(1). Just north of the ecliptic in Cancer 
i^^^Praesepe,'' or the Bee Hive which can 
be seen on a dark night. As seen through a 
good telescope, it is found to be a coarse 
cluster of stars, about 150 in all. 

(2). About two degrees south of the Bee 
Hive is a small star kno-^m as AseUiis Aus- 
tralis. It is recorded that the planet Jupi- 
ter eclipsed this star on the 3rd of Sept., B. 
C. 240. 

(3). A few degrees north of the ecliptic 
in Leo is the.'' Badianf' point of the Leon- 
ids, or Xovember meteors. These meteors 



ASTEOXOMY AND THE BIBLE. 19 

start from this point, and shoot towards ev- 
ery part of the heavens. The earth crosses 
their path Nov. 12-15 of each year. The 
whole heavens were full of those meteors 
during the shower of 1833, it being estimat- 
ed that more than 500,000 of them fell. We 
may expect another shower in 1933, as a 
greater shower than usual falls about every 
33 years. 

(4). South and east of Canis Major is 
Canopiis in Argo Navis, which ranks next 
to Sirius in brightness. This star is one of 
the very large bodies in the universe, and at 
an immense distance from our system. It is 
visible in the southern states. 

4. April. On the first day of April our 
journey around the sun is one-fourth com- 
pleted; and those stars which were on the 
meridian January first, are now on the wes- 
tern horizon April first. 
^ (1). You will notice a first magnitude 
star, Reguhis, nearly on the ecliptic in Leo. 
This star is so close to the ecliptic that it is 
almost covered by the Sun on August 20th. 
It is many times occulted by the moon. 

(2). Denabola, a second magnitude star 
is also in Leo, nearly due east from Regulus. 

(3). North and east of Leo Minor, in the 
constellation of LTrsa Major are three bright 



20 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 

stars belonging to the ^^ Dipper.'' Every 
school boy and girl knows the ^^ Pointers," 
Diihhe and Merak, because they point near- 
ly to Polaris, the pole star. 

Nothing of special interest in the south- 
ern heaven this month, and so we pass on. 

5. May, The stars which passed the me- 
ridian from 8 to 10 o'clock p. m., during 
April, having floated on towards the west, 
we are now ready to take observations of 
the May skies. 

(1) . A little south of the ecliptic in Virgo 
is Spica, a star of the first magnitude. This 
star is approaching the solar system at the 
rate of 9 miles per second. The spectroscope 
reveals the fact that Spica revolves around 
the common center of gravity of itself and 
a dark companion, at the rate of not less 
than 56 miles a second, the orbit being six 
million miles in diameter. 

(2). In Virgo is found the densest Nebu- 
lar region of the heavens. More than 500 
Nebulae are in this region. Sir Wm. Her- 
schel having discovered nearly half of them 
with his great reflector. 

(3). In the far south is the constellation, 
Centaurus, but its stars can be seen only in 
southern latitudes. Alpha, the nearest star 



ASTEONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 21 

to the solar system is in this constellation. 
It is four and a half light years from onr 
system. 

(4). In the northern heavens you will 
find four other bright stars of the '' Dipper'' 
in Ursa Major. One of them, Mizar, may 
be the more noted on account of its compan- 
ion, Alcor. It is at the bend of the ^^ dip- 
per's'' handle 

6. June, At the end of this month we 
will have accomplished the first half of our 
annual journey around the sun, for it will 
then have been six months since we started, 
January 1. 

(1). Just north of the ecliptic in Libra 
will be found a globular cluster of more 
than 200 stars. Small telescopes reveal it 
as a beautiful nebulous object. 

(2). Arcturus in the constellation of 
Bootes, a star of first magnitude, and the 
second brightest after Sirius, is supposed to 
be speeding through space at not less than 
55 miles a second, or three times as rapidly 
as our earth. It is many times larger than 
our great luminary. 

(3). The constellation of D^^co, the Ser- 
pent, (see Job 26:13) contains one of the 
most interesting stars in the northern heav- 



22 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 

ens, Thuhan. This was our pole star 4,500 
years ago. 

In closing this month's observations, 
please note that the sun was at his greatest 
Norther Declination on June 21, being then 
in the constellation of Gemini. Also re- 
member that at the end of June, our earth 
is on the opposite side of the sun from where 
it was on beginning the journey, January 1 ; 
and that those stars which were on the 
meridian about 9 o'clock p. m., January 1, 
are now lost in the brilliancy of the sun. 

7. July, Some new constellations and 
stars will pass the meridian at 9 o'clock p. 
m. about the middle of July. Those are the 
stars which were hid in the brilliancy of the 
sun six months ago. Can you calculate the 
distance which the earth has traveled dur- 
ing the six months '^ 

If you have been a close observer since 
starting, and have carefully noted all ob- 
jects of interest on the way, your blank 
book is almost filled, and you must have an- 
other one for the remainder of the journey. 

(1). The ninth constellation of the Zo- 
diac is ''Scorpio/' and the most beautiful. 
Its only star of the first magnitude is An- 
tares, which is just south of the ecliptic. 



ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 23 

There are some pretty Nebulous clusters in 
this constellation. Use a 3-inch telescope 
and find some of them. 

(2). In the constellation, Hercules, 
north of the celestial equator, you can see 
through the telescope its most beautiful 
object a star cluster. A keen penetrating 
eye can see it on a dark night without the 
aid of the telescope. At the Harvard ob- 
servatory, 724 stars have been counted out- 
side the Nucleus. 

It has been estimated that this cluster is 
558,000 millions of miles in diameter, and 
65 light years from the solar system. 

(3). In the northern part of Draco is 
situated the north pole of the ecliptic, and 
therefore all portions of the ecliptic are 90 
degrees from it. 

8. August. The July stars having pass- 
ed towards^ the West, we are now ready to 
take observations of some new stars. 

(1). Lyra, the Harp, in the Northern 
heavens contains a magnificent star of the 
first magnitude, Vega. Through the teles- 
cope it shines with the brilliancy of an elec- 
tric arc light. The star is approaching our 
system at the rate of nine and a half miles 
per second. It is more than 21 light years 



24 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 

from our system. In about 11,500 years it 
will be our north pole star. 

(2). South and east of Yega is the won- 
derful Bing Nehida, which has been photo- 
graphed. 

(3). Xorth of the celestial equator in 
Aquila is foimd a first magnitude star, Al- 
tai7% having a pale yellow color. It is about 
thirteen and a half light years from the sun. 

(4). Some five degrees east of Altair, a 
meteor stream, known as the Aquilids radi- 
ate. These meteors are visible from June 
7 to Aug. 12. 

9. Septemher. Remember that the au- 
tunmal equinox occurs about the end of the 
third week of this month, when the sun 
^^ crosses the line," or the celestial equator. 

(1). The constellation Capricornus is 
crossed by the ecliptic. It has no large stars 
but is noted for the fact that the planet Nep- 
tune was discovered in it upwards of 60 
years ago. 

(2). North of the celestial equator is 
located Delpliiniis, connnonly known as 
Job's Coffin. It's principal stars are easily 
located in the sky. 

(3). Due east frora Lyra is Cygmis^ The 
Swan, and is easily recognized by the cross 



ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 25 

that marks it. The brightest star is Deneh, 
of the first roagnitude. It is one of the 
large, remote bodies whose parallax has nev- 
er been found. 

(4). You will also find in this constella- 
tion 61 Cygni, noted by the fact that it was 
the first star to have its parallax determin- 
ed. It is eight light years from the sim, 
nearly as far away as Sirius. 

10. October, The objects in the sky for 
observation and study during September 
having passed on to the west, some new ob- 
jects now meet our eyes. In October the 
sun is in Virgo, while the earth is in the 
opposite part of the heavens. 

(1). Aqttarius, the last of the zodiacal 
constellations contains no large stars; but 
a third magnitude star, known as Skat, a 
few degrees south of the ecliptic is near the 
source of a stream of meteors whose orbit 
the earth crosses July 27th to 29th. 

(2). In Pisces Australis is found a con- 
spicuous star, Fomalhaut, of the first 
magnitude. It is of a reddish color, and has 
a companion 30 seconds distant from it. 

(3). North of the celestial equator is Pe- 
gasus, the Flying Horse, as the Greeks called 
it. The most striking outline is the ^^ Great 



26 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 

Square of Pegasus/' one of tlie stars of 
which is in Andromeda. It is really a trape- 
zoid rather than a square. 

(4). Lacerta is north of Pagasus. The 
constellation is small, but as it lies in the 
Milky Way it is a magnificent sight, espec- 
ially with the glass. In this constellation is 
located the radiant point of a minor stream 
of meteors which is visible in August and 
September. 

11. November. There are some beautiful 
objects for study during this month. 

(1). South of Andromeda lies the con- 
stellation, Pices, This is the first constella- 
tion of the Zodiac. On account of the pre- 
cession of the equinoxes, it occupies at pres- 
ent the sign of Aries. There are no conspic- 
uous stars in this constellation. 

(2). In the northern heavens is found 
Cassiopeia, ^^The Lady in the Chair.'' The 
stars composing the chair are easily found. 
This constellation lies on the opposite side 
of Polaris from the Dipper. 

A noted temporary star made its appear- 
ance in this constellation in the year 1572, 
A. D. After careful observation, full des- 
cription was given of it by Tycho Brahe. It 



ASTKONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 27 

was once so bright that it could be easily 
seen in day time. 

(3). Within a degree and a quarter of 
the north pole, you will find Polaris, This 
star will continue to approach the pole for ^ 
nearly 200 years, at which time it will be <^ 
only 26 minutes and 30 seconds distant. Po- 
laris is 44 light years from the solar system. 
It has a companion of the tenth magnitude. 
"While Polaris is a topaz yellow, its compan- 
ion is pale white. The comparison is easily 
recognized in a three-inch telescope. 

12. Decemher, The annual excursion 
will soon be completed. Only 30 degrees 
more of the heavens to study, and we will be 
at the starting place last January. 

(1). Perseus in the northern heavens 
contains a star of the second magnitude, Al- 
genih. It is approaching the solar system at 
the rate of five and a half miles per second. 

(2). About 9 degrees south and a little 
west of Algenib will be found Algol, a re- 
markable variable star. 

(3). In the year 1901, there appeared in 
the constellation, Perseus, a remarkable 
temporary star, Nova, said to have been the 
most brilliant of the temporary stars for 
300 years. 



28 asteoxo:my axd the bible. 

(4). South of the celestial equator in the 
constellation, Cetus, is situated a brilliant 
red star, Mira, It is the most remarkable 
Tariable which has vet been observed. 

(5). The constellation Eridanus, The 
River, is situated east of Cetus. This con- 
stellation contains one star of the first 
magnitude, Achenar, but it is invisible 
from the 40th parallel of north latitude, be- 
ing below the horizon in the southern heav- 
ens. 

Conclusion. Our exciu'sion is now com- 
pleted. See what changes have taken place 
since we started I The whole heavens have 
seemed to revolve aroimd our earth from 
east to west once during the year, but in 
Teality the heavens did not revolve at all; 
it was really the motion of the earth around 
i:he sun which caused the changes in the ap- 
pearance of the sky from month to month. 



LESSOX 5. FrEL FOR THE SUX. 



'^And there is nothing hid from the heat 
thereof/' Psa. 19:6. ^^For the sun is no 
sooner risen with a 'burning heat, hut it 
tvitJieretJi the grass, and fke flotver thereof 
falleth/' Jas. 1:11. 



ASTEONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 29 

The great orb of day is the most magnifi- 
cent of all the beautiful objects in the sky, 
to the inhabitants of the earth. Notwith- 
standing we see him every day, nothing in 
nature is more awe-inspiring. 

He is called in Gen. 1:14-16, the ^^ greater 
light to rule the day." He is therefore the 
source of both light and heat. The common 
Hebrew name for sun is shemesh, and many 
references are made to him in the scrip- 
tures. 

It may not seem strange that the sun was 
an object of worship by some of the nations 
contemporary with the Hebrews. This was 
especially true of the Phoenicians who wor- 
shipped him under the name of Baal; the 
Assyrians worshipped him under the name 
of Shamash, and the Egyptians, under the 
name of Ea. While the Hebrew were warn- 
ed against all such heathenism (Deut. 
17 :3), yet sun worship was practiced among 
them. 2 Kings 21:5. The good king, Jos- 
iah, abolished these evil practices which 
were commenced during the Assyrian per- 
iod. 2 Kings 23 :5-ll. 

^* There is nothing hid from the heat 
thereof." The source of the sun's heat has 
been a great mystery to the scientist. He 



30 ASTROXOMY AXD THE BIBLE. 

has been constantly pouring Ms beams of 
beat upon the earth for ages— it may have 
been for millions of years—, and yet from 
century to century there has seemed to be 
no decrease in his energy. Remember also 
that this constant radiation of heat is in all 
directions from the sun as a center. Whence 
then, the source of the heat and light of the 
sun ? What feeds this great central fire ? 

(1). A constant downpour of meteoric 
matter on the body of the sun has been pro- 
posed as the solution, but this certainly 
seems to be inadequate. 

(2). The theory that the ^^sun is slowly 
shrinking tinder its oivn central gravity/^ 
says Prof. Young in his ^^ Manual of As- 
tronomy, '^ page 569-570, ^^is the only ra- 
tional explanation of the facts thus far pre- 
sented/^ In this connection, he says. ^^A 
shrinkage of 300 feet a year in the sun's 
diameter will account for the whole annual 
output of radiant heat and light." 

Now if this shrinkage continues long 
enough, the sun will, in future ages, cease 
to giye sufficient light and heat to support 
life upon the earth, at which time the sun 
will become dark and frigid. 



ASTRONOMY x\ND THE BIBLE. 31 

Let US do a little calculating here, and 
see what will be the result. The diameter 
of the sun is 866,000 miles. A shrinkage in 
its diameter of 300 feet a year will account 
for the whole annual output of radiant heat 
and light. At this rate, its diameter will de- 
crease one mile in about seventeen years. 
At the same rate, in 17,000 years, it will 
have decreased 1000 miles in its diameter. 
Now this 1000 miles subtracted from its 
diameter will still leave 865,000 miles, and 
this is so near what it was before, that if 
you should live 17,000 years, you could see 
no perceptible change in its size, light or 
heat. And at this same rate of 1000 miles 
decrease in its diameter every 17,000 years, 
it will take a little over seven million years 
for the sun to decrease to one-half of its 
present diameter. Its face will then appear 
onlv about one-fourth of present size. 



LESSON" 6. Dark Suns. 



^^I will cover the heavens, and make the 
stars thereof dark; I will cover the sun with 
a cloud, and the moon shall not give her 
light. All the bright lights of heaven %vill 
I make dark over thee, and set darkness 



32 ASTEOXOMY AND THE BIBLE. 

tipon tliy landj saith the loed god/" Ezek, 
32:7-8. 

''The sun and the moon shall ie darken- 
edy and the stars shall withdraiv their shin- 
ing/' Joel 3:15. 

THiile the above language is doubtless 
figurative, yet it seems literally true that 
there are now many dark bodies in the uni- 
verse—stars as well as planets which have 
ceased, in the course of ages, to shine. 
Astronomical research of the past fifty 
years has proved this to be true. 

We saw in the previous lesson, that in 
the course of time, the sim will become dark 
and cold, and life upon the planets will no 
longer be possible; or in the language of 
Carl Snyder, ^^our system will be simply a 
series of revolving icicles." 

There is no longer and doubt that there 
are many of those dark bodies suspended in 
space, bodies whose lights long ago went 
out. Many believe that the universe is full 
of dark suns. Is it too much to believe 
with Arrhenius that the number of these 
opaque bodies far exceeds the number of 
those that blaze? 

There seem to be three stages: The Nebu- 
lar period, the star period, and the dark 



THE NEW MOON. 




Bebold, tomorrow is the new mooQ."-~i Sam. 2c s^ 




ft* ^ 

C Q. 



o &. 
<2 

« w 






^ 



I- 



ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 33 

sun period; and the reasoning seems to be 
good, that in course of time all the suns 
now lighting the heavens will one day 
cease to shine. It is believed that the solar- 
system was once in a nebulous condition;: 
and we know that, at least, some of the plan- 
ets are now in the dark stage, at which the- 
sun himself will finally arrive in f utura- 
ages. 

But what evidence have we of the exist- 
ence of dark suns ^ 

(1). Variable Stars, These are the bod- 
ies that have periodic changes of brilliancy^ 
and of those, there are several types. Algols 
in the constellation of Perseus, is a remark- 
able variable, and it seems evident that it: 
has a dark companion. This star remains? 
bright for most of the time ; but at times it 
suddenly decreases in brilliancy for about 
four hours, then it rekindles and in about 
five hours is again as brilliant as ever. The 
following is from Prof. Young's Manual of 
Astronomy, p. 531: ^^As to stars of the AW- 
gol type, the most natural explanation sug-~ 
gested by Goodricke more than a centiu^y • 
ago, is, that the obscuration is an eclipse ' 
produced by the periodical interposition of f 
some opaque body between us and the star. ^^' 



34 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 

Prof. Yoiing also says that there are about 
forty stars of the Algol type. 

'(2). Binary Stars, These are the double 
stars which are physically connected, and 
they revolve in elliptical orbits around their 
*«onimon center of gravity. Prof. Young 
m&jB that in the case of a binary pair the 
-npparent orbit of the smaller star with ref- 
erence to the larger one is always an eclipse. 
Explaining the orbit of Sirius which has 
lieen found to have a dark companion, he 
saj^s : ^'Before 1850 Bessel, from Meridian- 
eircie observations, had f oimd it to be mov- 
ing, for no (then) assignable reason, in a 
..^mall oval orbit with a period of about fifty 
jyiears. In 1862 Clark found near it a min- 
ute companion, which explained everything; 
it was the first discovery of one of Bessel's 
""^.dark suns/' 

In concluding this lesson, please read and 
"ponder the following from ^^ Steele's Popu- 
lii^T Astronomy,'' page 256: ^^The process 
<^t apparent creation and destruction seems 
tfo .be ^oing on in the heavens immediately 
liefore the eye of the astronomer, though 
usually with inconceivable slowness. New 
^stars fiash light, old stars are lost, worlds 
Iburst into flame, and their glowing em- 
Sjers fade into darkness. Are thev re— 



ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 35 

created into new worlds? We know not. 
We only perceive that the same Almighty 
power which fitted up this earth for our 
home is yet at work among the worlds about 
us, and we are thus witnesses of His eternal 
presence." 



LESSON 7. The Divine Admonition. 

^^Look unto the heavens and see; and he- 
hold the clouds which are higher than 
thou/' Job 35:5. 

'^Look notv toivard heaven, and tell the 
stars if thou he ahle to numher them/^ 
Gen. 15:5. 

The great majority of people seldom look 
up. The eye is fixed on terra firma— its 
beauties, its flowers, its pearls and its 
riches. 

The Duke of Alva once being asked if he 
had observed a recent eclipse of the sun, re- 
plied: "^o, I have no time to look up to 
heaven. '^ Being largely engaged in earthly 
things, the great masses never see, nor med- 
itate upon, the magnificent objects in the 
sky. ^^Look unto the heavens and see/' 
What a field for observation thought and 
meditation ! 



36 ASTEONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 

While the beauties and fascinations of 
earth are many, yet it would astonish the 
average beholder to know what great num- 
bers and varieties of magnificent objects 
there are in the starry heavens^— some of 
them visible to the naked eye, but a million 
times more of them come to view by the aid 
of the telescope. 

The strongest and most penetrating eye, 
unaided, can probably see 6,000 stars in the 
whole heavens ; but it is no exaggeration to 
say that the number brought to view through 
the aid of the most powerful telescope will 
reach into the millions. Then think of the 
fact that there are probably as many dark 
suns in space as there are shining ones, and 
we begin to have some conception of the 
magnitude of the laiown portion of the uni- 
verse. 

1. To us the most magnificent object in 
the sky is the sun, then our moon, followed 
by Venus and Jupiter when at their best. 

2. By careful observation, any one can 
soon locate the twenty stars of the first mag- 
nitude. But a few of these can not be seen 
in our northern latitudes. They are as fol- 
lows : 

(1). Sirius in the constellation of Cams 
Major. 



ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 37 

(2). Canopus in Argo Navis. 

(3). Achernar in Eridanus. 

(4). Capella in Auriga. 

(5). Eigel in Orion. 

(6). Procyon in Canis Minor. 

(7). Arcturus in Bootes. 

(8). Alpha in Centaurus. 

(9). Vega in IjjTa. 

(10). Aldeberan in Taurus- 

(11). Betelgeuse in Orion. 

(12). Pollux in Gemini. 

(13.) Regtilus in Leo. 

(14). Alpha in Grux. 

(15). Spica in Virgo. 

(16). Beta in Centaurus. 

(17). Antares in Scorpio. 

(18). Altair in Aquila. 

(19). Bemh in Cygnus. 

(20). Fomalhaut in Pisces Australis. 

If you will secure ^^ Upton's Star Atlas/' 
or any good map of the heavens, you can 
the more easily locate the above. 

3. Other beautiful objects in the sky are 
the Star Clusters and Nebulae, Look up 
the following, using a good star atlas : 

(1). The Pleiades in Taurus. 

(2). Praesepej or the Bee Hive in Cancer. 
It is visible to the naked eye, but through a 
3-inch telescope it is a beautiful object. 



38 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 

(3). The Great Nebula in Andromeda. 
The naked eye can see this plainly, and it is 
the brightest Nebula in the sky. 

(4). The Cra}) Nebula in Taurus is so 
named because it had the appearance of a 
crab when first seen (1758) in Lord Ross' 
great reflecting telescope. 

(5). The Great Nebula in Orion. It is 
generally agreed that this must be regarded 
as the grandest and most interesting of all 
the Nebulae. It surrounds the star Tlieta 
in Orion, which is visible to the naked eve 
as a single star, and in the telescope it forms 
the group of four principal stars and two 
not so bright, making six in all, and kno^\ii 
as the trapezium. This Nebula is one of the 
largest in the heavens. 

(6). The Nebula around Eta in Argus. 
This occupies a region in the southern heav- 
ens containing many stars forming an im- 
mense cluster involved in Nebulous matter. 
This star Eta was once very brilliant, ex- 
ceeded only by Sirius ; but it is now a star 
of the seventh magnitude. 

(7). The Great Spiral Nebula in Canes 
Venatici was so named by Lord Ross, who 
saw it in his great telescope, six feet in di- 
ameter. 



ASTEONOMY AND THE BIBLE. ^ 

(8). The Trifid Nebula in Sagittarius, It 
is very close to the ecliptic, and there is evi- 
dence that the Nebula has moved from ife 
former position. 

(9). The Great Cluster in Hercules^ as 
it is often called, is perhaps the most mag- 
nificent visible in the northern heavenR. 
There appear to be faint stars densely 
packed. 

(10). In Lyra is found what is known 
as the Ring Nebula, which is a wonderful 
looking object. 

(11). In Monoceros is found a Greai 
Nebula of enormous size, covering an area 
more than a degree in diameter. It appeal^ 
to be a chaos in the earlier stages of evoli^- 
tion. 

(12). The Cluster known as '^13 MeB- 
sier'^ in Hercules, not far from the ^^Apex 
of the Sun's way," is the finest in the norfb- 
ern heavens, and in a space one fourth of 
the diameter of the moon it contains sevei^ 
thousand stars. 

4. Besides the foregoing, there are other 
magnificent objects which appear from time 
to time, known as Comets, a few of wMeli: 
wiU be noticed in this connection. The stndj 
of the comets is the most fascinating, per- 



40 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 

haps, of any of the beautiful objects in the 
lieavens. 

(1). The Great Comet of 1811 was one of 
ihe most celebrated ; and was indeed a mag- 
nificent spectacle. The head of this comet 
i^v^as 112,000 miles in diameter, and its orbit 
is so vast that its greatest distance from the 
sun is fourteen times the distance of Nep- 
i;ine. Astronomers have calculated that it 
^will return in 3000 years ! 

(2). HaUey's Comet which appeared 
last in 1835, is noted as being the first whose 
period of revolution was satisfactorily es- 
tablished. Its period is about 75 years, and 
it is expected again in 1910. It is recorded 
as having come in seeing distance from the 
earth no less than 25 times, beginning with 
the year B. C.ll. It was Halley's comet 
which shone over Europe in April 1066, 
and was considered the forerunner of the 
conquest of England by William of Nor- 
mandy. 

(3)^. The Comet of 1813 was so very bril- 
liant that it could be seen in the full light of 
day; and at perihelion it approached so 
near the sun that it almost grazed its sur- 
face. 

(4). Donates Comet^hioh appeared in 
1858 was a subject of universal wonder. Its 



ASTKONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 41 

tail was 50,000,000 miles in length, and its 
head was 250,000 miles in diameter. It 
passed over the 1st magnitude star, Arctur- 
us, Oct. 5, 1858, and came nearest the earth 
on October 10 of the same year. It re- 
mained visible for more than nine months, 
and will not appear again for nearly 2,000 
years. 

(5). Another great comet appeared in 
1882, and its tail was over 60,000,000 miles 
in length. Its greatest distance out from 
the sun is six times that of Neptune, or 
about 16,800,000,000 miles. It will not ap- 
pear again for over 800 years. 

Since the year 1882 four or five comets 
have appeared that could be seen without a 
telescope, but only one was brilliant enough 
to attract general attention,— Ror dame's 
comet of 1893. 

We may look forward with much antici- 
pation and certainity of seeing Halley's 
comet in 1910, as it is due to appear again 
about that time. 



42 ASTEONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 

LESSON 8. The Little Things of the Uni- 

VEESE, AND THE BiG THINGS. 

^^Tlie mountains shall 'bring peace to the 
people, and the little hills, hy righteous- 
ness/' Psa. 72:3. 

There are little hills and big hills, and 
hills are compared with mountains. The 
whole imiverse of big things is made up of 
exceedingly small particles, called atoms. 
These are too small to be seen with the nak- 
ed eye. 

The study of bacteria practically began 
with the use of the microscope. The micro- 
scope is a wonder-revealer of modern times. 
Biology teaches that a Bacillus is a genus 
or class of Bacteria, the smallest living or- 
ganism we know of, and it is the smallest 
thing the hmnan eye has ever seen. The 
eye can not possibly see one of these living 
things without the aid of a powerful micro- 
scope. It is said that it would take 280,000,- 
000,000 of these little living things to weigh 
one pound. Let us guess that a flea will 
weigh one grain, and we will not miss it 
very far. Now, 7,000 grains avoirdupois 
equal one pound. Then it will take 7,000 
fleas to weigh one pound. Associating 
these figures and dividing, we find that it 



I 



ASTEONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 43 

will take 40,000,000 of these little living 
bacteria to equal in weight a flea. Now 
compare the flea to a mouse; one is small 
and the other is large. Then think of a 
mouse and an elephant standing side by 
side ; the one is a little thing, the other is of 
enormous size. Place the elephant by the 
side of Pike's Peak, and what a compari- 
son! Now think of Pike's Peak as compar- 
ed with the whole Rocky Mountain system, 
and the Peak dwindles into insignificance. 
Finally, i f you can, compare the Rocky 
Mountain system with the whole earth- 
land and water— continents, islands, oceans 
and seas ! Now you say, we are at the end, 
let us stop. You look at the sun, then at 
the moon, then at the thousands of little 
bright points in the sky, and finally you 
look at the earth, and you say : Surely, this 
world is the biggest thing in the universe, 
and the whole heavens are revolving around 
it as ,a common center. 

No we must not stop here. Let us go on 
with the comparison. Compare the earth 
with Jupiter, In imagination, place one 
earth upon a level plain, and another by it. 
Then another and another until you have 
eleven earths all standing in a row. These 
eleven earths would reach across the diame- 



44 ASTEONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 

ter of Jupiter. In other words, if Jupiter 
were a shell, it could swallow nearly 1,400 
earths. 

Let us next compare Jupiter with our 
sun. Put Jupiter on a level plain, and an- 
other by it. Then another and another un- 
til we have ten Jupiters all in a row. These 
ten Jupiters will reach across the diamter 
of the sun. In other words, the sun could 
swallow 1,000 Jupiters. 

Next, if you can, imagine 100 suns melted 
into one, and we have a Sinus, the brightest 
and most magnificent star in the heavens. 

Now reflect on the fact that it takes 300 
Siriuses to make one Arcturus, and not less 
than 300 Arcturuses to make one Canopus, 
and you will begin to have some conception 
of what is meant by higness! 

Canopus is one of the biggest things in 
the universe kno^^Ti to astronomers, and it 
is estimated that Canopus is equal in bulk 
to a million of our suns. No parallax of 
great Canopus has ever yet been found, and 
this fact means that its distance is unthink- 
able, and its dimensions enormous. The 
same can be said of Bigel, and of Deneb in 
the constellation of the Swan, 



I 



ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 4:5^ 

LESSON 9. The Wonders of Nature 
Progressive. 

^^And I will show wonders in the heavens 
and in the earth, Hood, and -fire, and pillars 
of smoke. The sun shall he turned into 
darkness, and the moon into Mood, before 
the great and terrible day of the lord 
come/' Joel 2:30-31. 

^^He deliver eth and rescueth, and he 
worketh signs and tvonders in heaven and 
in earth, tvho hath delivered Daniel from 
the power of the lions/' Dan. 6:27. 

''Who doeth great things past finding 
out; yea, and wonders without number/' 
Job 9 :10. 

''Stand still, and consider the wondrous 
works of God. Dost thou know when god 
disposed them, and caused the light of his 
cloud to shine? Dost thou know the balanc- 
ing of the clouds, the wondrous tvorks of 
him who is perfect in knoivledgeV Job 37: 
14-16. 

While the terms '' wonders, " and 
^^ SIGNS," and ^^ wondrous works," general- 
ly mean the supernatural or miraculous 
acts of the Almighty, yet it is literally true 
that Jehovah is now doing wonders, and ac- 



46 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 

<3omplishing marvelous things in the heav- 
ens and the earth through natural law. 

(1). Supernatural wonders. While 
volumes could be written concerning the 
mighty acts of Grod, his marvelous interven- 
tions and miraculous workings in hehalf of 
his people, we will notice only a few in- 
stances at this tmie. 

(a). The standing still of the sun and 
moon. 

On the death of Moses, Joshua became 
the leader of Israel (Josh. 1:1-9). After 
leading the people of Grod across the Jor- 
dan, Joshua took Jericho, Achan was stoned, 
and the Gibeonites made a league with Josh- 
ua. Then five kings came against Josh- 
ua in battle. Josh. 10:1-7, and the ^^Lord 
cast doT\Ti great stones from heaven upon 
them.'' Josh. 10:11. After that, occurred 
the mighty supernatural work of Grod in 
causing the sun and moon to stand still. 

^^Then spake Joshua to the Lord in the 
day when the Lord delivered up the Amor- 
ites before the children of Israel, sun, 
stand thou still upon Gibeon; and thou, 
moon, in the Valley of Ajalon. And the sun 
stood still, and the moon stayed, until the 
people had avenged themselves upon their 
enemies. Is this not written in the book of 



ASTEONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 47 

Jasher'? So the sun stood still in the midst 
of heaven, and hasted not to go down about 
a whole day. And there was no day like 
that before it or after it, that the Lord 
hearkened unto the voice of man; for the 
Lord fought for Israel-'' Josh. 10: 12-14. 

(b). The darkening of the Sun at the 
Crucifixion, 

^^And it was about the sixth hour, and 
there was a darkness over all the earth un- 
til the ninth hour. And the sun was dark^ 
ened, and the vail of the temple was rent in 
the midst.'' Luke 23:44-45. 

The above are sufficient to show the migh- 
ty miraculous interventions of Jehovah on 
special occasions. 

(2). The Wondkoijs Workings of Nat- 
TJEAL Law. In the development of the uni- 
verse, and in the accomplishment of his 
purposes, the Creator has been, and is yet, 
performing marvelous things in the heav- 
ens above. In the language of Job 9:10, 
^^He doeth wonders without number." 

The Original Chaos, (Gen. 1:1). 
After the original material was brought 
into existence by the Creator, out of which 
he afterwards built the universe, all was 
confusion and disovder— chaos, ^^And the 
earth ivas ivithout form and void; and dark- 



48 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 

ness was upon the face of the deep," Gen. 
1 :2. Then Elohim spent ages of time in 
'bringing beauty and harmony out of the 
original confusion ; but lie finished Ms work 
and pronounced it very good. Gen. 1:31; 
2:1. 

Since then, it seems that changes have 
been constantly going on in the heavens. 
Some stars are known to be changing in 
brightness. Take Castor and Pollux in 
Gemini as examples. Three hundred years 
ago, Castor was the brighter of the two, but 
now, it is inferior to Pollux in luminosity. 
The same is true of the star Beta in Libra, 
as compared with Antares which is not far 
distant. There are numbers of such cases, 
when we take the whole heavens into con- 
sideration. 

It appears evident that some stars have 
disappeared from the heavens, and some 
new ones have come into existence. The 
disappearance of a star does not mean that 
it is annihilated, but that it has become 
opaque and, therefore, has ceased to shine. 
It is probable that all the stars we now see 
shining in the heavens will one day go out. 
The neiv ones which come into existence are 
not new creations. They may have origin- 
ated from nebulous matter. The heavens 



A STAR CLUSTER. 




TER is found ■ 

.'i-ioa,. IS icji::£, 10 minutes, aor» 
ice 87X degrees. 



THE LEONIDS. A METEORIC SHOWER. 




The radiant point of this stream is just north of Regulus, a 
i-j'ii magnitude star in Leo It is near the loth hour of righs 
Aitension. The great shower of 1833 radiated from this point. 



ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 49 

seem to be teeming with Nebulae, wMcli are 
white cloud-like patches of matter in space. 
Herschell discovered many of these objects 
in the sky— hundreds of them— with the aid 
of his great reflector; and it is estimated 
that there are not less than 120,000 of them" 
in the heavens. It is believed that these are 
star germs, the material out of which stars 
or suns, or systems are formed. This being 
true, each of these 120,000 patches of nebul- 
ous matter will in future ages develop into 
a star or sun. 

It may be that the collision or the rush- 
ing together of two great bodies origin- 
ates nebula, and this nebula in turn be- 
comes the germ of a future sun, or system. 
It is believed that our own solar system was 
once in a nebulous state. 

Thus it seems that god is performing 
ivonderful things right before our eyes ; and 
by the use of the telescope and the spectro- 
scope we are enabled to get some conception 
of the greatness of his power and majesty. 

When we think of the vast amount of 
heat radiated from our great luminary, as 
well as that of all the stars, we look upon 
the greater portion of it as being lost, as 
it would seem that only a small per cent of it 
finds a resting place; yet it may be that a 



50 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 

large part of tliis heat is absorbed by the 
various nebulae in the heavens. Thus the 
Creator may be storing up the energy for 
future use, which seems to us lost 

So far as our earth is concerned, Grod is 
doing wonderful things every day in our 
j)resence. We look with awe and astonish- 
ment at the wonders of the earthquake, the 
wonders of the tidal wave, the wonders of 
natural forces, the wonders of the elec- 
tric current, the wonders of magnetism, the 
wonders of wind and cyclones, the wonders 
of solar attraction and solar energy. 



LESSON 10. The Bible and Astronomy. 

''The heavens declare the glory of god, 
and the firmament showeth his handiwork/' 
Psa. 19:1. 

The subject of astronomy is referred to 
many times in the scriptures, showing that 
the mspired writers meditated much upon 
the beauties of the heavens ; but it never de- 
veloped into a real science among the an- 
cient Israelites. It seems that they never 
made any distinction between comets, plan- 
ets and fixed stars. 

As a science, the cradle of astronomy is 
to be found in Asia. Probablv the astron- 



ASTEONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 51 

omical knowledge of the Chinese and the 
people of India goes farther back than that 
of any other nation. The Chaldeans made it 
a special study, and they are accounted to 
have excelled in their knowledge of astron- 
omy. 

At a very early period in history, the 
the Egyptians had considerable acquaint- 
ance with the science of astronomy. From 
Herodotus we learn that they determined 
very nearly, the length of the year. As- 
tronomy traveled in a westerly direction 
from the remote east, and the Grreeks learn- 
ed it from the Egyptians. 

In studying the subject of astronomy in 
the Hebrew scriptures, we find their knowl- 
edge of the subject thoroughly imbued with 
a religious character; and it is impossible 
to find in any other writings, even to the 
present day, so much pure and elevated 
piety in connection with observations on the 
starry heavens, as is found even in single 
books of the Bible. (See Hos 5:8; Psa. 19; 
Job 26.) 

The Hebrew Shemesli is the usual word 
for Sun in the Old Testament, and in Gen. 
1:16 he is called the ^^ greater light," and is 
to serve in conjunction with the moon, "to 



52 ASTEONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 

rule the day.'' See also Psa. 136 :8 ; Jer. 31 : 
35. 

During patriarchal times the minds of 
pious men and women were attracted and 
enraptured by the magnificence of the heav- 
ens. Gen. 37:9. After the law was given 
the appearance of the new moon was saluted 
by the sound of trumpets, and celebrated 
with sacrificial feasts. See Nnm. 10:10; 
28:11-15; 29:1. 

In Psa. 19 :6 reference is made to the eclip- 
tic. ^^His going forth is from the end of 
the heaven, and his circuit unto the ends 
thereof.'' The Sun makes a complete cir- 
cuit of the whole heavens every 24 hours; 
he also makes his annual round among the 
constellations of the Zodiac every 365 days. 

In those early times it is not strange that 
the Hebrews were led to worship so magnifi- 
cent an object as the sun, although they were 
expressly forbidden to do so. The Assyr- 
ians, Phoenicians and Egyptians did the 
same thing. But strange as it may seem to 
us now, the Parsees actually worship the 
sun to this day. 

As early as the days of Job, the Constella- 
tions were distinguished one from another, 
and designated by peculiar and appropriate 
names. ^^He is wise in heart and mighty in 



ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 53 

strength, ^ * *. Who alone spreadeth 
out the heavens, and treadeth upon the 
waves of the sea. Who maketh Arcturusi 
Orion, and Pleiades, and the Chambers of 
the South." He not only mentions by name 
three most beautiful Constellations in the 
northern heavens, but by the term, ^^Cham- 
bers of the South/' he seems to refer to the 
Southern Constellations, or those which sur- 
round the south pole of the heavens. 

^^ Canst thou bind the sweet influences of 
Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion? 
Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth in his 
season? Or canst thou guide Arcturus with 
his sons?'' By ^^ Arcturus" is meant Ursa 
Major, or the Great Bear, one of the most 
beautiful constellations in the northern sky. 
The marginal reading in the common ver- 
sion for ^^ Mazzaroth" is ^Hhe twelve signs." 

We also find the following in scripture: 

( 1 ) . Hey el, ' ' Lucifer, ' ' the morning star, 
which was the planet Venus, ^^How art 
thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son 
of the morning!" Isa. 14:12. In the above 
passage, the term is used in a figurative 
sense, referring to the fall of the King of 
Babylon. 

(2). NachasJi, "Tke Crooked Serpent," 
the constellation Draco, between Ursa Ma- 



54 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 

jor and Ursa Minor, and which spreads 
itself in windings across the heavens. ^^By 
his spirit he hath garnished the heavens; 
his hand hath formed the crooked serpent." 
Job. 26:13. 

(3). Dioskouroi, Gemini or the Twins, a 
Constellation on the belt of the Zodiac. The 
twin stars were Castor and Pollux. ^^And 
after three months we departed in a ship of 
Alexandria, which had wintered in the isle, 
whose sign was Castor and Pollux,'' Acts 
28 :11. These two stars are easily located in 
the heavens, just north of the ecliptic, be- 
tween the 7th and 8th hours of Right Ascen- 
sion, and nearly due north of Procyon, The 
*^Bee Hive," a beautiful cluster in Cancer 
and nearly on the ecliptic, is about 12 de- 
grees southeast of Pollux. 

(4). Tsciba liasliamayim, "iYi.e host of 
heaven. " "" And he ( King Josiah) put down 
the idolatrous priests, whom the kings of 
Judah had ordained to burn incense in the 
high places in the cities of Judah, and in the 
places round about Jerusalem; them also 
that burned incense unto Baal, to the sun, 
and to the moon, and to the planets, and to 
all the host of heaven/' 2 Kings 23:5. 

A small per cent of the scripture refer- 
ences has been given, but these are sufficient 



ASTEONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 55 

to show you what Jehovah has seen fit to say 
on the subject of Astronomy. 

LESSON 11. The Immensity of Space and 
THE Enormity of Star Distances. 

^'Is not God in the height of heaven"^ and 
hehold the height of the stars, how high they 
are/' Job 22:12. 

^^For as the heaven is high a'bove the 
earth, so great is his merey toivard them 
that fear him. As far as the east is from 
the ivest, so far hath he removed our trans- 
gressions from us/' Psa. 103:11-12. 

When we take up a subject like this we 
are lost in wonder and amazement trying to 
grasp the meaning of the extent of space 
and the inmiensity of the distance to the 
fixed stars. But we can not do it. The dis- 
tance is inconceivable. 

No one except the Creator knows the ex- 
tent of the universe, the entire bounds of 
creation, the limits of space. It is generally 
believed by astronomers that the sidereal 
system extends far beyond the range of the 
most powerful telescope, but how much 
farther, no one knows. 

A strong, penetrating eye, unaided, can 
see something like 6,000 stars in the whole 



56 ASTKONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 

heavens. The faintest of these are stars of 
about the 6th magnitude. Only a few of 
the members of our solar system can be seen 
with the naked eye,— the Sun, the Moon, 
Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and 
under favorable circiunstances, Uranus; 
but Neptune and the 500 Asteroids are in- 
visible to the naked eye, as are also the sat- 
ellites of the various planets. 

About 300 years ago, Galileo perfected 
and used the first telescope. It was a crude 
thing, indeed. The first one had only a 
three-fold magnifying power; and finally 
he made one with a power of thirty-two. He 
made wonderful discoveries with this in- 
strument. He discovered the four larger 
moons of Jupiter, the rings of Saturn, the 
mountains of our moon, and looked into 
space millions of miles beyond the reach of 
the human eye. 

Sir Wm. Herschel calculated that his 
twenty-foot reflector revealed the existence 
of stars 900 times the distance of Sirius. 
Such stars, therefore, would be 7,500 light 
years distant. But Herschel also construct- 
ed a forty-foot reflector with a diameter of 
48 inches, and he calculated that it would 
penetrate 2800 times the distance of Sirius, 
which is over 23,000 light years from us! 



ASTEONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 57 

Herschel's reflector reached stars down to 
the 17th magnitude, and it has been estimat- 
ed that his reflector brought into view not 
less than 100,000,000 of stars! Just think 
of a portion of our stellar universe contain- 
ing a hundred million suns ! 

You may ask, what is meant by the term 
light yearl It is the distance traveled by 
a ray of light in a year. As light travels 
through space at the rate of 186,300 miles 
per second, this amounts to nearly six tril- 
lions of miles. 

In order that we may get some idea of the 
meaning of distance as applied to the stars, 
let us do a little calculating. The astronom- 
ical unit for expressing celestial distances 
is 93,000,000 miles, which is the earth's dis- 
tance from the sun. This distance is so 
great that it would take a wave of light 
eight and one-third minutes to come from 
the sun to us. It would take an express 
train, running at 60 miles an hour, 176 years 
to make the journey to the sim. 

The nearest star to the solar system 
known to astronomers, is Alpha, in the con- 
stellation of Centaur. This star is 277,000 
times our distance to the sun. This distance 
is so great that it would take a wave of light 



58 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 

four and a half years to come from the star 
to us. 

Sirius is about eight and a half light years 
from our system^ and that means that it is 
about 50 trillions of miles away ! The spec- 
troscope reveals the fact that Sirius is com- 
ing toward the solar system at the rate of 
ten miles a second. Suppose it continues to 
come in this direction at that rate, how long 
will it take to reach the solar system'? A 
little calculation by long division will reveal 
the fact that it will take Sirius over 150,000 
years to reach our system. 

Procyon is ten and a half light years from 
us. The Star Altair is thirteen and three- 
fifth light years away. Vega is twenty-one 
and seven-tenths light years distant, while 
Capella is thirty-two. Polaris is so far 
away that it would take a wave of light for- 
ty-four years to Span the distance, and Arc- 
turns is probably 120 light years away. 
These are all moderate distances. Now, re- 
membering what we said a little while ago, 
that Herschel's forty-foot reflector probably 
reached stars 23,000 light years distant, you 
begin to have some conception of the vast 
extent of the great universe of God. 



ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 59 

LESSON 12. The End. 



^^And all the host of heaven shall he dis- 
solved^ and the heavens shall he rolled to- 
gether as a scroll; and all their host shall 
fall doivn, as the leaf falleth off from the 
vine, and as a falling fig from the fig-tree/^ 
Isa. 34:4. 

^^Of old hast thou laid the foundation of 
the earth; and the heavens are the work of 
thy hands. They shall perish, hut thou 
shalt endure. Yea, all of them shall wax 
old like a garment; as a vesture shalt thou 
change them, and they shall he changed/^ 
Psa. 102:25-26. 

'^Then cometh the end/' 1 Cor. 15:24. 

There is coining an end of the present or- 
der of material things. Nothing is more 
clearly taught than this. Both nature and 
revelation bear testimony in unmistakable 
terms, that the universe as it now is will not 
continue forever. The fact is, the student 
sees change written on the very face of the 
sky. The present existence of dark suns 
and the sudden blazing out of new stars in 
the heavens prove this. The visible universe 
is not now what it was a thousand years ago ; 
and it will not be a thousand years hence 
exactly what it is now. 



€0 ASTKONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 

Much speculation has been going on rel- 
ative to the process by which the present 
condition of things has come about; and 
men will speculate on the process by which 
it will end. But we may confidently say, 
in the midst of all the speculations of men, 
that there is coming an end. 

Please read the following quotation from 
Trof, Young's Manual of Astronomy, pages 
571-572: One lesson seems to be clearly 
taught: that the present system of stars 
and worlds is not an eternal one. We have 
before us everj^where evidence of continu- 
ous, irreversible progress from a definite 
l3eginning toward a definite end. Scattered 
particles and masses are gathering together 
and condensing, so that the great grow con- 
tinually larger by capturing and absorbing 
the smaller. And yet, on the other hand, 
the phenomena of the coronal streamers, of 
comets' tails, and those presented by the 
swiftly expanding nebulosity of Nova Per- 
sei, seem to indicate in certain cases a pro- 
cess exactly the reverse,— a repulsion and 
dissipation in space of finer grained mater- 
ials, possibly the 4ons' of the most modern 
physicists. 

^^ At the same time the hot bodies are los- 
ing their heat and distributmg it to the 



ASTEONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 6^1 

colder ones, so that there is an unremitting 
tendency towards a uniform, and therefore 
useless, temperature throughout our whole 
universe; for heat is available as energy 
(i. e., it can do work) only when it can pass 
from a warmer body to a colder one. The 
continual warming up of cooler bodies at 
the expense of the hotter ones always means 
a loss, therefore, not of energy, for that is 
indistructible, but of available energy. 

^^To use the ordinary technical term, en- 
ergy is continually 'dissipated' by the pro- 
cesses which constitute and maintain life on 
the universe. This 'dissipation' of energy 
can have but one ultimate result, that of 
absolute stagnation when the temperature 
has become everywhere the same. 

''If we carry our imagination backward, 
we reach 'a beginning of things,' which has 
no intelligible antecedent; if forward, we 
come to an end of things in dead stagnation. 
That in some way this end of things will re- 
sult in a 'new heavens and a new earth' is, 
of course, very probable, but science as yet 
presents no explanation of the method." 

The intelligent student of both nature 
and revelation may affirm with confidence 
that destniction or change awaits the visi- 
ble universe. What is to be the character 



62 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 

of this destruction '^ What is to be the final 
destiny of the earth and the heavens? 
The language of Divine revelation is not 
ambiguous on this subject, but it is clear, 
positive and emphatic. 

^^ Heaven and earth shall pass away, but 
my word shall not pass away." Math. 24:35. 

^'But the heavens and the earth, which 
are now, by the sane word are kept in store, 
reserved unto fire against the day of judg- 
ment and perdition of ungodly men." 2 Pet. 
3:7. 

''But the day of the Lord will come as a 
thief in the night ; in the which the heavens 
shall pass away with a great noise, and the 
elements shall melt with fervent heat, the 
earth also and the works that are therein 
shall be burned up." 2 Pet. 3:10. 

The earth was once destroyed by water, 
but from the above scripture it is evident 
that fire is to be the agent of its futtire de- 
struction. 

But we may also look with confidence for 
Ood's promised ''new heavens and new 
earth." 

"For, behold, I create new heavens and a 
new earth ; and the former shall not be re- 
membered, nor come into mind." Isa. 65: 
17. 



ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 63 

^^Kevertheless we according to his prom- 
ise, look for new heavens and a new earth, 
wherein dwelleth righteousness.'^ 2 Pet. 3: 
13. 

*'And I saw a new heaven and a new 
earth ; for. the first heaven and the first 
earth were passed away; and there was no 
more sea." Eev. 21:1. 



? 



64 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 



PAET TWO. 



OUTLINE STUDIES IN ASTRONOMY 



Lesson 1. The Sun. 



1. The Central Orh of the Solar System. 

(1). Our source of light and heat. 

(2). Has a family of over 500 members, 
including planets, satellites and asteroids. 

(3). Besides those, a large number of 
comets and meteors cicrle around him. 

(4). His attraction holds the planets in 
place. 

(5). To us the most magnificent object in 
the sky. 

(6). A hot self-limiinous body, contract- 
ing in size. 



RING NEBULA IN LYRA. 




is one of the brightest of the Circ 

ated aboiu lo degree-- "•'-"■»^^ ->- ■^' 



THE GREAT NEBULA IN ANDROMEI'A. 




■}W]s !is one of the brightest Nebula in the sky, and tan X'- 
ff«^:Jv seen with the naked eye on a dark night. It has a nwcieus 



ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 65 

(7). Heat and light spread in all direc- 
tions. 

2. His Distance. 

(1). Mean distance from earth is 93,000,- 
000 miles. 

(2). His light comes to ns in eight and 
one-third minutes. 

(3). Distance to nearest fixed star (Al- 
pha Centanri) is 25 trillion miles. 

(4). Distance from Sirius eight and a 
half light years. 

(5). Distance from Polaris forty-four 
light years. 

3. His Enormous Dimensions. 

(1). A row of 109 earths placed side by 
side would reach across his diameter, 866,- 
000 miles. 

(2). If the sun were an empty shell, he 
could SAvallow a million and thi-ee hundred 
thousand earths. 

(3). He is not so dense as the earth, but 
it would take 332,000 earths to equal the 
weight of the sun. 

(4). A body on the sun's surface would 
weigh 27 times as much as it does on the 
earth's surface. 

4. The Sun in Motion. 

(1). He makes the circuit around the 
heavens every 24 hours— apparent motion. 



66 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 

(2). Makes a complete circuit among the 
stars once in 365 days— apparent motion. 

(3). He travels south in winter and 
north in siuumer— apparent motion. 

(4). Turns completely around on his 
axis every 25 days, 7 hours and 48 minutes 
—real motion. 

(5). Is sweeping through space with his 
family of planets at the rate of 11 miles a 
second— real motion. 

5. Physical Constitution . 

iX)- Its visible surface is called the 
photosphere. 

(2). Smi-spots are probably shallow de- 
pressions in the photosphere. 

(3). As to the cause of sun-spots, we 
have no certain knowledge; but they are 
probably the results of eruptions. 

(4). The relation of sun-spots to magnet- 
ic disturbances upon the earth is an inter- 
esting stud}^ 

(5). The Chromosphere, composed of 
luminous gas, mostly hydrogen, is outside 
the photosphere. 

(6). The Corona is a halo or glory of 
light which surromids the sun when in a 
total eclipse, and is probably the most im- 
pressive of all natural phenomena. 



ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 67i 

(7). Thirty-six elements are known to 
exist in the sun, such as: calcium, iron, 
aluminum, potassium, etc. 

(8). It would require 600,000 full moons 
to give as much light as cloudless simshine. 

(9). The sun is contracting. A shrink- 
age of 300 feet in his diameter annually is 
necessary to account for the light and heat 
which we receive from him. 



Lesson 2. Mercury, 



1. The study of the planets. Mercury is 
the first in order of distance from the sun. 

(1). Recorded observations run back as 
far as B. C. 264. 

(2). Called by the Grreeks Apollo when 
morning star, and Mercury when evening 
star. 

(3). There are but few opportunities of 
seeing it with the naked eye, on account of 
its nearness to the sun. 

2. Motion and Distance. 

(1). It circles around the sun at a mean 
distance of 36,000,000 miles. 

(2). It completes a revolution every 88 
days. 



68 ASTEONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 

(3). Sometimes it comes as close as 50,- 
000,000 miles to the earth. 

(4). Its average rate in its orbit is 30 
miles a second. This is the most rapid of 
all the planets. The law is, the nearer the 
body is to the sun the swifter is its velocity. 

(5). The inclination of its orbit to the 
ecliptic is seven degrees. 

3. Dimensions and Mass. 

(1). It is about 3,000 miles in diameter. 

(2). Its surface is about one-seveth that 
that of the earth. 

(3). The smallest of the planets except 
the asteroids. 

(4). It would take about 20 Mercuries 
to make one earth. 

(5). A body on its surface would weigh 
about one-third of what it does on the earth. 

4. As Seen Tlirough the Telescope. 

(1). It looks like a little moon, showing- 
phases precisely similar to those of the 
moon. 

(2). It appears as a half moon when at 
greatest elongation. 

(3). These phases prove that Mercury is 
spherical and reflects the light of the sun. 

(4). It probably has little or no atmos- 
phere, and seems to turn on its axis once 
while going aromid the sun. 



ASTEONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 69 

5. Light and Heat. 

■ (1). Its average light and heat is seven 
times what it is on the earth, and that tem- 
perature is sufficient to turn water into 
steam. 

(2). It has no satellite, but the sun ap- 
pears three times as broad there as it does 
to us. 

(3). Its Albedo, or the reflecting power 
of its surface is only 0.13. 



Lesson 3. Venus. 



1. Next to Mercury in distance from the 
sun is Venus, the most magnificent of all 
the planets when at its best. 

(1.) By the ancients it was called Phos- 
phorus, '' Lucifer,'' (Isa. 14:12), or morn- 
ing star, and Hesperus or evening. 

(2). It presents the same phases as Mer- 
cury. 

(3). Its light and heat are double that 
of the earth. 

(4). When most brilliant Venus casts a 
shadow at night. 

2. Motion and Distance. 

(1). Venus revolves around the sun at a 
mean distance of 67,000,000 miles. 

(2). Its orbit is very nearly circular. 



70 ASTEONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 

(3). Makes a complete revolution around 
its primary in 225 days. 

(4). Its nearest approach to the earth is 
about 25,000,000 miles. 

(5). Its average rate per second is 22 
miles. 

(6). It appears to turn on its axis once 
while going around the sun. 

3. Dimensions and Mass, 

(1). Its diameter is about 7,600 miles. 

(2). Has about nine-tenths as much sur- 
face as the earth, and about seven-eights as 
much volume. 

(3). A body weighing 8 pounds on the 
earth would weigh about 7 pounds on Ven- 
us. 

4. Other things of interest ahout Venus. 
(1). Its reflecting power is 0.50, which 

is nearly four times that of Mercury. 

(2). There are evidences of an atmos- 
phere on the planet, and some have argued 
its habitability. 

(3). So far as is known it has no satel- 
lites. 

(4). When Venus passes between the 
earth and sun, it is called a ^ transit." 
These do not occur very often. The next 
transits will be June 8, 2004, and June 6, 
2012. 



astronomy and the bible. 71 

Lesson 4. The Earth. 



1. The earth also hangs in space (Job. 
26:7), and must be studied astronomically. 

(1). The earth is third in distance from 
the sun. 

(2). It is referred to many times in scrip- 
tures, and its destiny is foretold. Pet. 3 :7y 
10. 

2. Motions and Distance. 

(1). Its mean distance from the sun is 
93,000,000 miles. 

(2). It turns on its axis once every 24 
hours. 

(3). The diurnal rotation of the earth is- 
the cause of the apparent motion of the sun 
and stars around the earth every 24 hours. 

(4). The annual revolution of the earth 
about the sun causes: (a). The seasons ;^ 
(b). The apparent motion of the sun north 
and south; (c). The apparent yearly mo- 
tion of the sun around the ecliptic; (d). The 
change in the appearance of the heavens in 
different months. 

(5). Its velocity is eighteen and a half 
miles per second. 

3. Dimensions and Mass. 

(1). Its diameter is nearly 8,000 miles. 
(2). Its density is about five and a half 



72 ASTEOXOMY AND THE BIBLE. 

times that of water— much denser than the 
smi. 

(3). The earth has been weighed. To 
find its weight, write the figure 6 with twen- 
ty-one ciphers to the riglit, and call the re- 
sult tons. 

(4). Weight of anything on the earth is 
its force of gravity towards the earth. 

(5). A body weighing 100 lbs. on the 
earth's surface would weigh 265 lbs. on the 
surface of Jupiter; the same body would 
weigh 2,760 lbs. on the sun^s surface. 

(6). On account of the centrifugal force 
of the earth, a body at the equator weighs 
less than it would if the earth did not turn 
on its axis. 



Lesson 5. The Moon. 

1. JVhile only a satellite, she is next to 
the sun the most magnificent object in the 
heavens. 

(1). The only heavenly body except the 
sun which exerts any perceptible influence 
upon the interests of human life. 

(2). It is the nearness of the moon to us, 
which gives her her prominence. 

2. Motion and Distance, 



ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 73 

(1). At a mean distance of 238,000 miles, 
the moon revolves around the earth in twen- 
ty-seven and one-third days ; but the synod- 
ic revolution occupies twenty-nine and one 
half days. This is the lunar month. 

(2). An express train running at 50 
miles an hour could go to the moon and 
back in a year, and the round trip at 2cts a 
mile would cost $9,520. 

(3). The moon's velocity is about two- 
thirds of a mile per second. 

(4). The moon's m^otion on the face of 
the sky is nearly thirteen degrees eastward 
from night to night, or about 51 minutes. 

3. Dimensions and Mass. 

(1). The diameter of the moon is about 
2160 miles. 

(2). The surface of the moon is one- 
fourteenth that of the earth's, and its vol- 
ume one-fiftieth that of the earth's. 

(3). It is the largest of the satellites in 
comparison with its primary planet. 

(4). It would take 82 moons to equal the 
earth in weight. 

4. Physical Charaxt eristics, 

(1). If the moon h^s any atmosphere, it 
is extremely rare. There seem to be no 
clouds, no moisture, no vegetation, no life 
on the moon. 



74 ASTEOXOMY AND THE BIBLE. 

(2). If the whole sky were covered with 
full moons, they would not equal the full 
light of noon-day sun. 

(3). The telescope shows that the moon 
is beset with many mountains, plains, val- 
leys and craters. 

5. Influences of the Moon. 

(1). The attraction of the moon in con- 
nection with that of the sun produces the 
tides. 

(2). There seem to be disturbances also 
of terrestrial magnetism connected with the 
moon. 



Lesson 6. Eclipses and the Tides. 

1. Eclipses of the Moon. 

(1.) Caused by the passing of the moon 
into the shadow of the earth. 

(2). Can take place only at full moon, 
and that is when the earth is between the 
sun and moon. 

(3). Total eclipses of the moon do not 
occur as often as those of the sun. 

(4). There can never be an annular 
eclipse of the moon, because the earth is so 
much larger than the moon. 

(5). An eclipse of the moon when cen- 
tral may continue total for about two hours. 



ASTKONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 75 

2. Eclipses of the Sun. 

(1). Caused by the passing of the moon 
between the sun and the observer. 

(2). The moon's shadow averages 232,- 
150 miles. 

(3). There are three kinds of eclipses; 
(a). Partial; (b). Total; (c). Annular. 

(4). Must occur at time of new moon,, 
and when the moon is at or near a node. 

(5). There cannot be more than five nor 
less than two solar eclipses a year. 

(6). Begin on the western edge of the 
sun, and pass off on the eastern. 

(7). On June 8, 1918, will occur a total 
eclipse of the sun from Vancouver to 
Georgia. 

(8). On June 20, 1955, will occur the 
longest total eclipse on record, viz: Near 8 
minutes. 

3. The Tides. 

(1). Tides consist in a regular rise and 
fall of the ocean surface. 

(2). The average intervals between cor- 
resdonding high waters on successive days 
at any given place is 24 hours and 51 min- 
utes. 

(3). It is flood-tide when the water is^ 
rising ; and ebb-tide when it is falling. 



76 ASTEOXOMY AND THE BIBLE. 

(4). At new and at full moon, the sun 
acts witli the moon in elevating the waters, 
because the sun, moon and earth are in a 
line. 



Lessox 7. The Plaxet Maes. 

1. The fourth planet in order of distance 
irom the sun. 

(1). The first of the superior planets, 
and the one most like the earth. 

(2). Looks very much like a bright red 
star when seen with the naked eye. 

(3). When it comes nearest the earth, 
which occurs at intervals of nearly fifteen 
years, it shines with a brilliancy rivaling 
Jupiter. 

(4). The last very favorable opposition 
was in July, 1907. 

2. Motion and Distance. 

(1). The mean distance of Mars from 
the Sun is about 141,500,000 miles. 

(2). Its average velocity is about 15 
miles a second. 

(3). It takes Mars 41 minutes longer to 
turn on its axis than it does the earth. 

(4). Sometimes when in oposition it is 
less than 34,000,000 miles from the earth; 



ASTKONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 77 

but at conjunction the average distance i& 
234,000,000 miles. 

3. Dimensions and Mass. 

(1). Its diameter is about 4,300 miles. 

(2). Its surface is about two-sevenths 
that of the earth. 

(3). It would take nine planets like 
Mars to equal the earth in weight. 

(4). A body weighing 50 lbs. on the earth 
would weigh about 19 lbs. on Mars. 

4. As seen through the Telescope. 

(1). When nearest to us, and viewed 
through a telescope of a power of 75, it is as 
large as the moon. 

(2). Being outside the earth's orbit, it 
never has the crescent phases as Mercury 
and Venus have; but it does have the gib- 
bous phases. 

(3). There are reddish spots over its 
surface which are believed to be continents. 

(4). As no mountains have, as yet, been 
discovered, the elevations above the general 
level are probably not very great. 

(5). It is believed that the brilliant 
white spots near its poles are masses of 
snow. 

(6). About 30 years ago Schiaparelli an- 
nounced the discovery of a system of canals, 
which some consider to be artificial. 



78 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 

5. What of the Hcibitability of Mars? 

(1). Much has been written on this, but 
it is probable that the conditions of temper- 
ature and atmosphere on the planet render 
it unfit for habitation. 

(2). Prof. C. A. Young says, ^^If life, 
such as we know life upon the earth, can 
exist upon any of the planets. Mars is the 
one.'' 



Lesson 8. The Astekoids. 



1. The Space Between the Orbits of Mars 
and Jupiter. 

(1). This space was not known to be fill- 
ed till the opening of the nineteenth cen- 
tury. 

(2). Kepler and other astronomers be- 
lieved that there was a planet in this space. 

(3). Systematic search w^as made to find 
it. 

(a). Jan. 1, 1801, Ceres was discovered. 

(b). In 1802, Olbers discovered Pallas. 

(c). In 1804 Juno was discovered by 
Harding. 

(d). In 1807 Vesta was found, the only 
one ever visible to the naked eye. 



ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 79 

(e). Discoveries of new ones have been 
going on since, until row there are known to 
be nearly 600. 

(f). These little bodies are designated by 
numbers, though many of them have names 
besides. 

2. Description, 

(1). These little planetules are diminu- 
tive indeed. 

(2). But Ceres and Vesta when nearest 
us appear as the 6th magnitude stars. 

(3). Ceres has a diameter of 488 
miles ; Pallas nearly 300 ; and Vesta nearly 
250. 

(4). The others will probably average 
about 10 to 20 miles in diameter. 

(5). The pull of gravity is so mild on 
these little worlds that a person could leap 
60 feet into the air and sustain no injury in 
the fall. 

(6). Eros which is No. 433, discovered in 
1898, under favorable conditions comes 
within 13,000,000 miles of the earth. 

(7). If the entire 500 were cemented to- 
gether into one mass, the total weight would 
be only a small per cent of the earth's 
weight. 

3. How Did These Little Bodies Origin- 
ate'! 



80 ASTKONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 

(1). It is believed that the entire swarm 
of little bodies represent a single planet. 

(2). It may be that the attractive power 
of the great Jupiter, just outside of their or- 
bits, prevented the material out of which 
they were made from forming into a single 
mass. 

(3). Another theory is that these little 
planetules may be the fragments of an ex- 
ploded planet. 

(4). A little over a hundred years ago, 
Olbers broached the theory that these little 
bodies are the fragments of a planet shiver- 
ed to pieces in remote antiquity by some 
terrible catastrophe. 



Lesson 9. The Planet Jupiter. 



1. The nearest of the Major Planets, and 
the largest of all. 

(1). It is five times as bright as Sirius. 

(2). When in opposition it illumines the 
heavens all night. 

(3). One of the five planets discovered 
in primitive times. 

2. Motion and Distance, 

(1). Its mean distance from the sun is 
483,000,000 miles. 



JUPITER AND HIS FOUR LARGEST SATELLITES, 




'Ye men of Ephesus, what man is there that knoweth not 
how that the city of the Ephesians is a worshiper of the 
great goddess, Diana, and of the image which fell down from 
Jupiter?" — Acts 19:35. 




s 



ASTEONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 81 

(2). It completes a revolution around 
the sun in nearly twelve years. 

(3). Jupiter advances 30 degrees east- 
ward yearly, and conies into opposition 
with the earth and sun every thirteen 
months. 

(4). His seven attendant moons give him 
some dignity as compared with the planets, 
heretofore considered. 

(5). Though he appears to advance 
slowly among the stars, he is traveling at 
the rate of eight and a third miles a second,, 
or 500 miles a minute. 

(6). The inclination of his orbit to the 
ecliptic is only one degree and nineteen 
minutes. 

(7). Turns on his axis in nine hours and 
fifty-five minutes. 

3. Dimensions and Mass, 

(1). His diameter is nearly 90,000 miles, 

(2). It would take nearly 1,400 earths to 
make a Jupiter so far as volume is concern- 
ed, and he is larger than all the other plan- 
ets combined. 

(3). If he were as close to us as the 
moon, he would fill a space more than 1,500 
times the apparent area of the moon's disk. 

(4). It would take over 1,000 Jupiters tos 
equal the sun in bulk and weight. 



82 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 

(5). The pulling power of gravity on his 
surface is about two and two-third times 
that of the earth. 

4. As Seen Through the Telescope. 

(1). With a magnifying power of 60, his 
apparent diameter equals that of the moon. 

(2). A beautiful object in connection 
with the four larger moons. 

(3). There are evidences of a very ex- 
tensive atmosphere, and the planet is be- 
lieved to be in the molten state, overlaid by 
cloud and vapor. 

(4). The ''belts'' and the ''great red 
spot'' are noted features. 

5. Light and Heat. 

(1). Jupiter receives from the sun only 
one twenty-seventh as much light and heat 
as does the earth. 

(2). His seven moons must present a 
beautiful appearance in the evening sky. 

(3). His reflecting power is 0.62, and the 
question has been raised as to whether or 
not Jupiter is to some extent self-luminous. 



Lesson 10. Satukn, The Ringed World. 

1. Planet six in order of distance from 
the sun. 



ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 83 

(1). The ancients knew no planets out- 
side the orbit of Saturn. 

(2). In appearance it is a star of the 
first magnitude. 

(3). It advances eastward among the 
stars only 12 degrees annually. 

2. Motion and Distance, 

(1). Saturn revolves around the sun at 
a mean distance of 886,000,000 miles. 

(2). It requires nearly 30 years to com- 
plete a revolution. 

(3). Its velocity is six miles per second, 
or about 22,000 miles an hour. 

(4). Saturn turns on her axis in 10 hours 
and 14 minutes. 

(5). The inclination of her orbit to the 
ecliptic is about 28 degrees. 

3. Dimensions and Mass. 

(1). The diameter of Saturn is about 
73,000 miles. 

(2). As to volume it would take 770 
earths to make one Saturn, but it is the 
least dense of all the planet family. 

(3). A body on the earth, weighing 100 
lbs. would weigh .150 lbs. on Saturn. 

4. As Seoi Trouglh the Telescope, 

(1). Not until Galileo's day were the 
rings and Satellites found. 



84 ASTEONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 

(2). The planet's spectrum is very mucli 
like that of Jupiter, but the dark bands are 
more pronounced. 

(3). The most remarkable peculiarity to 
be noticed is its ring system. 

(4). It is now known that the rings con- 
sist of a cloud of tiny satellites. 

(5). The ^^belt" feature of Saturn is 
less distinct than that of Jupiter. 

(6). The satellites will be considered in a 
future lesson. 

5. Light and Heat. 

(1). The light and heat received from 
the sun is only the one-hundredth part of 
that received by the earth. 

(2). But her rings and ten moons must 
present a beautiful sight in the evening sky. 

(3). The ^'albedo," or reflecting power 
is 0.52. 



Lesson 11. Ueanus. 



1. The seventh planet in order from the 
sun. 

(1). It was discovered accidentally by 
Wm. Hirschel, March 13, 1781. 

(2). To a strong eye it is visible when 
surroundings are favorable. 



ASTKONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 85 

(3). If Uranus were as near as the sun, 
it would appear twice as large as Jupiter; 
as it is it shines as though it were a star of 
the sixth magnitude. 

2. Motion and Distance. 

(1). The mean distance from the sun is 
1,800,000,000 miles. 

(2). It takes Uranus 84 years to circle 
the sun. 

(3). Its eastward movement is very 
moderate, less than four degrees annually. 

(4). Its velocity is four and a half miles 
a second, or 270 miles a minute. 

3. Dimensions and Mass, 

(1). Its diameter is about 32,000 miles. 

(2). Its bulk is about 66 times that of 
the earth. 

(3). It would take nearly 15 earths to 
equal Uranus in weight. 

4. Appearance, Light and Heat, 

(1). A few ^^spots" or ^^belts" have 
been found. 

(2). It is attended by four moons. 

(3). It receives only one three-hund- 
redth part of the light that comes to our 
earth. 

(4). Its reflecting power is very high, 
0.64. 



86 ASTEONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 

As to the time of revolution on its axis^ 
nothing is knovvTi. 



Lesson 12. Neptune. 

1. The last in order of Distance from the 
Sun. 

(1). This planet was discovered Sept. 
23, 1846. The discoverer found it by search- 
ing for it and calculating its true place. 

(2). Its discovery is considered one of 
the grandest achievements of the human 
mind. Leverrier and Adams share the hon- 
or of the discovery so far as the calculations 
were concerned. 

2. Motion and Distance, 

(1). Its mean distance from the sun is 
2,800,000,000 miles. 

(2). It requires 165 years for Neptune to 
complete a revolution around the sun. It 
has made only a partial revolution since its 
discovery in 1846. 

(3). Its annual eastward motion is only 
about two and one-fifth degrees. 

(4). Notwithstanding its apparent 
slowness, it is speeding through space at the 
rate of three and a third miles a second, or 
12,000 miles an hour. 

3. Dimensions and Mass, 



ASKTONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 87 

(1). Its diameter is about 30,000 miles. 

(2). It would take 53 earths to equal 
Neptune in volume, but only 17 earths to 
equal Neptune in weight or mass. 

4. Appearance, Light and Heat, 

(1). No visible markings on its surface. 

(2). It has one moon, to be noticed later. 

(3). Neptune receives only one nine- 
hundredth part of the light and heat which 
comes to the earth. 

(4). Its reflecting power is 0.46, a little 
less than that of Saturn. 

(5.) The sun as seen from Neptune 
would give nearly as much light as 700 full 
moons. 



Lesson 13. The Satellites of the Solae 
System. 

Our moon, on account of its magnificence 
and importance, was considered by itself in 
Lesson 5. As has been stated before. Mer- 
cury and Venus have no moons. 

1. The Satellites of Mars. 

(1). Only two have been discovered, 
Deimos and Phohos, 

(2). They were discovered by Prof. Hall 
of the Naval Observatory, Washington, D. 
C, in 1877. 



88 ASTEONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 

(3). The inner one, Phobos, circles 
around Mars in 7 hours and 39 minutes at a 
distance of 5,850 miles. It rises in the west 
and sets in the east. 

(4). Deimos at a distance of 14,650 
miles, requires 30 hours and 18 minutes to 
complete a revolution. 

These little bodies are exceedingly small^ 
probably from 6 to 15 miles in diameter. 

2. The Satellites of Jupiter, 

(1). Seven in all have been discovered; 
the first four in 1610 by Galileo ; the fifth by 
Barnard in 1892 ; the sixth and seventh by 
Perrine in 1905. 

(2). The four large ones were the first 
heavenly bodies ever discovered. 

(3). Even in a small telescope, the large 
ones may be seen to change their positions 
from hour to hour. 

(4). The inner moon circles around Jup- 
iter in 42 hours and 27 minutes. 

(5). The third one is much the larger, 
having a liameter of 3,600 miles. 

Eclipses of som.e of these moons are al- 
most daily occurrences. 

3. The Satellites of Saturn, 

(1). Saturn is attended by 10 satellites: 
(a). Mimas discovered by Herschel in 
1789. 



ASTKONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 89 

(b). Enceladus discovered by Herschel 
in 1789. 

(c). Tethys discovered by J. D. Cassini 
in 1684. 

(d). Dione discovered by J. D. Cassini 
in 1684. 

(e). Rliea discovered by J. D. Cassini in 
1672. 

(f). Titan discovered by Huygliens in 
1655. 

(g). Hyperion discovered by G. P. Bond 
in 1848. 

(h). lapetus discovered by J. D. Cassini 
in 1671. 

(i). Phoebe discovered by Pickering in 
1898. 

(j). Themis discovered by Pickering' in 
1905. 

(2). Titan is the largest one with a di- 
ameter probably exceeding 3,000 miles. It 
revolves around Saturn at a distance of 
771,000 miles, in 15 days, 22 hours and 41 
minutes. It can be seen in a 3-inch tele- 
scope. 

(3). The outer moon, Phoebe, is 8,000,000 
miles distant from the planet, so that the 
Saturnian system is about 16,000,000 miles 
in diameter. 

4. The Satellites of Uranus, 



90 ASTEONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 

(1). This planet has four moons. 

(2). Two of them were discovered by Sir 
Wm. Herschel in 1787; the other two by 
Lassell in 1851. 

(3). A very curious fact about these 
moons is that their orbits are nearly per- 
pendicular to the plane of the planet's or- 
bit, and they revolve backwards. 

5. Neptune has only one moon. 

(1). It is a little smaller than our moon. 

(2). Its distance from the planet is 221,- 
500 miles, and completes a revolution 
around it in 5 da^^s and 21 hours. 

(3). This moon also moves backwards. 

(4). The basis for calculating the mass 
or weight of Neptune, which is 17 times 
that of the earth, is furnished by the revo- 
lution of this moon about its primary in the 
above mentioned time, 5 days and 21 hours. 



Lesson 14. Comets. 



1. Comets usuall}^ have three parts : The 
nucleus, the coma and the tail. 

2. They often come unexpectedly and dis- 
appear rapidly. 

3. The periodical return of a few have 
been calculated, some of which are the fol- 
lowing : 



ASTEONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 91 

(1). Bncke's appeared in Sept. 1901. 
(2). Brorsen's appeared on Feb. 25y 
1890. 

(3). Finlay's appeared on Feb. 17, 1900. 
(4). Holmes' appeared on Apr. 29, 1899. 
(5). Brooks' appeared on Nov. 5, 1896. 
(6). Olbers' appeared on Oct. 19, 1887. 
(7). Halley's due to appear May 17, 1910. 

4. The large ones are magnificent objects, 
but they do not appear often. Examples, in 
1811, 1825, 1835 (Halley's), 1843, 1858, 1874 
and 1882. 

5. It seems to be about time for another 
celebrated one to appear and such a one is 
predicted to appear in 1910— Halley's. 

6. Comets are not confined to the limits 
of the Zodiac, as are the planets, but appeal 
in every quarter of the heavens. 

7. It has been estimated that there are 
not less than 17,000,000 comets within the 
solar system. Of these, some are invisible 
to the naked eye, and some are not conspicu- 
ous. 

8. They obey the law of gravitation, and 
many of them 'belong to the solar system. 

9. When they approach the sun, pass 
aromid it, and then recede in an ecliptic or- 
bit, they will return again; but if they re- 



"92 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 

€ede in a parabolic or hyperbolic orbit, tbev 
will never return. 

10. Some of tliem approach very near the 
f^urf ace of the sun. 

11. Generally the quantity of solid mat- 
ter is very small. 

12. If the earth should come in contact 
with an ordinary comet, probably no harm 
would be experienced. The earth actually 
passed through the tail of the great comet 
of 1861. 



Lesson 15. The Fixed Stars. 

1. By the term ^'fioced'' stars, it is not 
meant that they are literally at rest; for it 
is believed that all the stars of space are in 
motion. But as the stars maintain their 
relative positions from century to century 
without preceptible change, they are de- 
nominated fixed stars. 

2. The solar system is hanging in space 
surrounded by an immense void peopled 
only by comets and meteoric matter. This 
miighty void is not less than 50 trillions of 
miles in diameter. The nearest object to 
our system known to astronomers is Alpha 
Centauri, which is 277,000 times oar dis- 
tance to the sun. 



ASTEONOMY AND THR BIBLE. 93 

3. If you could stand on Alpha Centauri 
and look at our sun, it would appear no 
brighter than Polaris does to us, so great 
would be its distance; and you could not 
see a single one of our planets even if you 
should look through Lord Rosse's great 60 
foot telescope, which is 6 feet in diameter. 

4. The naked eye can see about 6,000 
stars ; a good opera-glass brings out about 
100,000 ; a 3-inch telescope will reveal sever- 
al hundred thousand ; while the Yerkes tele- 
scope, 40 inches in diameter, probably 
makes visible not less than 100,000,000. 

5. For convenience in studying the stars^ 
they are grouped into constellations, and by 
this means they are the more easily located. 
About 48 of the constellations originated in 
ancient times. 

6. More than a million stars have been 
catalogued, so that every star that would be 
visible in a 3-inch telescope can be found 
and identified, except those in the ^^ Milky 
Way.'' 

7. Our sun is a star, and it is known that 
he is traveling through space, taking with 
him his 500 members. It is also known that 
the sun is traveling toward a point in the 
sky near the borders of Hercules and Lyra, 
not far from the star Vega, 



94 ASTEONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 

8. The distance to the stars is so im- 
mense that we can see only the light they 
emit, but not the surface of the bodies. No 
telescope yet constructed has been able to 
produce a sensible disk on any of them. 

9. Stellar distances are measured by 
^4ight years." A light year is the distance 
traveled by a wave of light in a year at 186,- 
000 miles a second. This amounts to nearly 
six trillions of miles. For example ; the dis- 
tance to Vega is 21 light years, and that 
means that it is nearly 126 trillions of miles 
away. 



Lesson 16. The Pleiades and the Hyades. 

We will now study the two beautiful clus- 
ters in Taitriis, They are prominent and 
pass the meridian in the early part of the 
night in the month of January. 

1. The Pleiades. 

(1). A cluster of stars in the shoulder of 
taurus. Hesiod called them the seven Vir- 
gins. 

(2). Ordinary eyes can see only six; but 
very strong eyes on exceedingly fine nights 
<3an see not merely seven, but three more. 

(3). The Pleiades are mentioned twice 
in the book of Job (Job 9:9; 38:31-32), and 



ASTKONOMY AMD THE BIBLE. 95 

once in the prophecy of Amos (Amos 5:8), 
and also in Homer, v ho likewise names the 
Hyades. 

(4). The Pleiades were always supposed 
to be seven, but a powerful telescope will 
reveal at least 625. 

(5). The brightest star in the group is 
Alcyone. 

(6). Madler, a German astronomer, in 
1846, advanced a theory that there exists a 
great central point in the universe around 
which the sun, with his planets and comets, 
revolves in the course of millions of years ; 
and he suggested that such center is Alcy- 
one, the most conspicuous star in the Plei- 
ades. But this is now generally considered 
to be a speculation. 

2. The Hyades, 

(1). According to the classic writers, 
there were seven stars in the head of Tau- 
rus, the Bull,, and they were known as the 
Hyades. 

(2). It is a beautiful V-shaped cluster, 
just south of the ecliptic, and Aldeharan is 
the brightest one. 

(3). This star Aldebaran is a first mag- 
nitude star, fiery red ; and it is estimated to 
be moving through the heavens and away 



96 ASTEONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 

from the solar system, at the rate of 30 miles 
a second. 

(4). When the Hyades rose with the sun, 
the Greeks and Romans expected rain. 

(5). A number of the bright stars near 
the ecliptic, situated between the Pleiades 
and Hyades, have a common motion to- 
ward the east, of about 10 seconds of a de- 
gree a century . While they are moving 
swiftly eastward, their distance is so great 
that the ordinary observer during his whole 
life time would see no change. 

If you will examine these two clusters 
Through a 3-inch telescope, you will be 
pleased. 



? 



THE GREAT COMET OF 1811. 




This comet was seen for seven ten months. lis orbit is 
so vast that its greatest distance from the sun is fourteen 
times the distance of Neptane Astronomers have calculated 

Itbat it will return in 3,000 years. 



ASTEONOMY AN'D THE BIBLE. 9% 



PAET THREE. 

PEEPAEATORY BIBLE STUDIES. 

Lesson 1. A Libraky for the Biblr. 
Student. 



To study any branch of knowledge suc- 
cessfully, we must have books. Books are 
not wisdom and knowledge, but they lead us 
on to them; they are the means, in other 
words, to their attainment. A person might 
live in a library of thousands of volumes 
and be no wiser on that account when he 
comes to die. Books should be carefully 
read and studied— at least some of them— 
and others should be consulted and referred^, 
to, when needed. In like manner, to study 
the Word of God, the student must have' 
books— he must have a library. He need: 



98 ASTEON^OMY AXD THE BIBLE. 

not have a very large nor a very expensive 
one, but there are a few books which are 
absolutely necessary to the effectual study 
of the Bible. What are they, and how are 
they to be used? 

1. A good, well bound teacher's edition of 
the Bible will be very helpful. If you have 
not one already, secure one in good, large 
print, on a good quality of paper, and with 
references. Such a book will help in many 
ways. There are many such books on the 
market, and they range in price from one 
dollar up to twenty-five, according to size 
and style of binding. One bound in flexible 
binding will last many years, and the helps 
to be derived from it are inmiense. 

2. In addition to this, purchase a con- 
^cordance to the Bible. Cruden's is one of 
the very best. And, if possible, get Young's 
Analytical Concordance, and also the Eng- 
lishman's Greek Concordance. The value 
•of these books as a means of Bible study is 
-very great. 

3. Get next, ''The Bible Text Book," by 
fhe American Tract Society. It gives you 
^11 of the main passages on any given sub- 
ject, so that you can turn and read from 
the word itself. No other book besides the 
Bible will be so heljDful to you as this one 



ASTKONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 99 

in preparing subjects for Bible readings, 
prayer meetings and sermons. Get a copy 
at once. You might hunt for a day or a 
week to get the references on a subject with- 
out this work, but with it you get them in a 
few minutes. The book just helps you to 
get at what you want in the quickest possi- 
ble time ; and as we live in an age in which 
we must do things in a hurry, the book is 
indispensable. 

4. I would recommend next ^^ Smith's 
History of the Bible," in two volumes. 
These books will help greatly in under- 
standing the scriptures. Then get a good 
'^ Bible Dictionary" and a work an Sacred 
Geography and Topography, and, if you 
are able, get a good, practical Commentary 
of the entire Bible. We might recommend 
other books, but these will be found suffi- 
cient for all practical purposes. Now, let 
me say before concluding this chapter, that 
these books, industriously studied, with 
plenty of good common sense, will lead you 
towards the '^depths of the riches of the 
wisdom and knowledge of God." 



Lesson 2. Our Ignorance of the Bible. 

^Ye do err, not knotving the Scriptures." - 
Matt. 22 :29. 



100 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 

It is wonderful how much real ignorance 
there is in the world to-day with regard to 
the Bible. Many who might be suspected 
of being pretty well acquainted with it. 
know but little about it. A great many er- 
rors are committed on account of our ignor- 
ance of the Bible. '^ Ye do err/' said Jesus 
to the Sadducees, ''not knotving the Scrip- 
tures." The fact that they were ignorant 
concerning the Scripture doctrine of the 
resurrection is given as a reason why they 
erred. Or, to express it more correctly, 
their error consisted in their ignorance. But 
they had their Scriptures, the Law of Mos- 
es, in hand, and should have been better ac- 
quainted with it. We may excuse ourselves, 
but we must not think that God will excuse 
us on accomit of our ignorance of His word. 
Ignorance itself is a sin, when we have the 
means of information at hand, and it leads 
to many other sins. 

Christians, especially, should be well 
enough versed in the Bible to enable them 
to converse intelligently about it, and es- 
pecially that part of it which treats directly 
of the great scheme of redemption and the 
duties of those who have become Christians. 
They should know the names, authors and 
order of the sixty-six books which com- 



ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 101 

pose the Bible. They should be enabled to 
give the history of all important persons, 
places and countries of the Bible. But, by 
all means, they should be well acquainted 
with the New Testament, and should know 
how to analyze it as to books, giving the 
main design of each one. 

And every parent should set about a plan 
to teach it to his children daily. Teach the 
children when they are young to read the 
Scriptures, and they will love it when they 
are old. Too much time and attention can- 
not be given to the children. And right 
here I wish to say that some Christians get 
discouraged and fall for no other reason 
than the fact that they have neglected their 
Bible. The trouble is not a lack of Bibles, 
nor of Bible publishing companies ; neither 
is it because the people do not purchase 
'Bibles— they do this— hut it is simply the 
fact that the word is not read and studied. 
Some parents do not read it themselves, 
neither do they urge it upon their children. 

This general ignorance of the Bible on 
the part of the masses should not be so, be- 
cause Bibles are being multiplied to a won- 
derful extent and circulated everywhere. 

In conclusion, what are some of the re- 
sults of being unacquainted with the Bible ? 



102 ASTEONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 

1. We become morally and spiritually 
lean. We become like Pharoab's lean kine. 
We make very slow progress, if, indeed, 
any progress at all. We become uninterest- 
ed in religious matters, and soon drift away 
from tbe cburcb. When once we are in this 
condition we are harder to rouse than ever 
before. 

2. Finally doubts becloud the mind, and 
then the devil has a good hold upon us. For 
in proportion as he can lead us to indiffer- 
ence and unbelief he is doing his own work 
to perfection and tearing down that of the 
church. 



Lesson 3 The Sa^t:oe's Question to the 
Sadducees. 

^^Have ye not read that tvJiich was spoken 
unto you ly 6^0(ir'— Matt. 22:31. 

The question and following statement by 
Jesus filled the Sadducees with astonish- 
ment. If they had been better acquainted 
wdth the word of the Lord they would not 
have blundered, and they would have es- 
caped this dilemma. Much of our wrong 
doing results from the fact that we do not 
love and study the Bible as we should. 

Now, let us make this question a personal 
and practical one: ^^Have you not read that 



ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 103 

wMch was spoken unto you by God^" Did 
you read the word this morning, and will 
you read it again tonight before retiring? 
Did you read it the first day of the year, 
have you read it every day since, and will 
you read it every day henceforth as long as 
you live ? How will you answer these ques- 
tions, my brother, my sister? Remember,, 
the entire Bible is ivliat the Lord has spok- 
en. Have you read it all, are you now read- 
ing it regularly, and are you trying to un- 
derstand what you read? It may be that 
you have read many other books, and are 
well acquainted with the current events of 
the day, and keep posted in political and 
secular matters; but how about the Bible? 
Do you love the novel better? Remember 
that the Bible is God's revelation to man,, 
and through it He speaks to His creatures,, 
and mercifully tells them about their duties 
here, and what is to become of them here- 
after. Then, if you are not in a regular 
course of Bible reading, get about it to-day. 
You will be a much better and happier 
Christian by so doing. ' ' Have you not read 
that which was spoken unto you by GodV^ 
What God says is more important than 
what man says, is it not? Yes, but why? 
Because what God says is all true, but what 



104 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 

man says may be true or it may not. It 
may be partly true and partly not true. 



Lesson 4. A Man Lead to his Conveesion 
BY Reading the Scriptures. 

It was the Ethiopian eunuch, and the ac- 
count may be found by reading Act s, 8 :26- 
39. 

^'Read Esaias, the propliet/'—Y, 28. 

^^ Heard Mm read the prophet Esaias.''— 
V. 30. 

^^The place of the Scripture tvhich he 
read was this/'—Y 32. 

The preacher on this occasion was the 
•evangelist Philip, who had been directed to 
the spot by an angel from Heaven. The 
man to be turned to Christ was a traveler 
from Jerusalem to Ethiopia, and was a 
worshiper of God according to the Jevvdsh 
religion. He was evidently reading from 
the roll of the prophec}^ of Isaiah, and that 
part of the prophecy was about Christ. It 
is found in Isa., 53 :7-8. Read and study it 
well,, and also the case as it actually occur- 
red in the book of Acts. 

How much better it would be for us to 
.spend our time in reading the Scriptm-cs 



ASTEONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 105 

than in reading some trashy novel, or to 
spend it idly or foolishly ! 

It is profitable to read the prophecies, as 
much of them are fulfilled in Christ and 
apostolic times. Philip used that Scripture 
in Isaiah as a text, and preached unto him 
Jesus. We should not consider any reading 
dry or dull which points to the Savior cf 
the world. Jesus may be seen all through 
the Bible. From Genesis to Revelation 
Christ is the theme, either in type, prophecy 
or fact. While the Old Testament is not a 
book of authority to us as a law, still it was 
written by inspiration, and is therefore a 
part of God's divine revelation. The Old 
and New Testaments are bound together, 
and each one helps us to understand the 
other. The quotations from the Old Testa- 
ment by New Testament writers show that 
they recognized the Old Testament as 
Scripture, and as given by inspiration. 

Now for a few practical thoughts. Many 
have turned to the Lord by reading. He 
who reads and meditates much has much 
faith. He who reads and meditates little 
has but little faith. Our faith in history 
and science is strengthened by reading. 
Then, brother, read more, and induce others 
to read ; and read the Bible believing every 



106 ASTEOXOMY AXD THE BIBLE. 

word of it. Remember, when you have the 
Book in your hand, that ^^ These are the 
faithful and true sayings of God." (Rev., 
22:6.) Prayerful and regular reading will 
clear away the doubts which the devil has 
implanted in the heart. 

Lessox 5. IxDusTEY Necessaey to Uxdee- 
STAXD the Bible. 

''Till I come, give attendance to read- 
ing/'-l Tim., 4:13. 

To acquire a knowledge of any branch of 
learning it requires mental force, study and 
application. This is the one secret of being 
mighty in the Scriptures. Praying, wish- 
ing and hoping for knowledge brings it not, 
without much patient reading. To become a 
classical scholar, one must spend years in 
hard, persistent toil. And if you would un- 
derstand God's word, you must give attend- 
ance to reading. 

Much of the Bible is hard to understand, 
but it is not affirmed by any divine writer 
that it can not be understood. There are 
many dark passages in the prophecies, and 
some things which Jesus uttered while 
speaking in figurative language are not so 
easily imderstood. Yet, bv an honest in-. 



ASTKONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 107 

quiry after the truth, that which appears 
dark becomes plain. Peter, in his second 
letter (2Pet., 3:16), affirms that there are 
^^some things in Paul's epistles hard to be 
understood," which is true. But, is not the 
same true of astronomy, mathematics, logic 
and the natural sciences ? Now, who will 
therefore affirm that those branches were 
not intended to be understood ? 

That God intended for us to understand 
His Word is evident : 

1. From the fact that He made a revela- 
tion. A revelation could not have been 
made without revealing something. God 
determined to save man, and made it 
known by a revelation. 

2. Prom the character of its contents. 
The Word of God is spoken of as ^'per- 
fect,'' as ^^full and sufficient," as ^^sure," 
as ^^ profitable" for man as a ^4amp" to 
shine upon our way, and as ^^ being given by 
inspiration." And Paul affirms (Rom.^ 
15:4) that ^^ Whatsoever things were writ- 
ten aforetime were written for our learn- 
ing, that we, through patience and comfort 
of the Scriptures, might have hope," 

Prom all of these considerations, it is 
plain that we may profit by a diligent study 
of the Word. 



108 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 

Now, to insure the best results, learn the 
original languages of the Bible, the Hebrew 
and the Greek, if possible, in your efforts to 
understand the Scriptures. This will give 
jou an advantage over the mere English 
reader. Then, the lexicons and grammars 
will be of great service in independent study. 

Lesson 6. The Value of the Bible in 
Meeting Temptation. 

"But He (Jesus) answered and said it is 
written/'— M^it, 4:4. 

The Bible is the Christian's fortification. 
It is a stronghold to the tempted man. To 
it he may come for deliverance. The devil 
will surely leave hun Avhen the word is 
hrought up. (James, 4:7.) 

There would not be so many failures in 
the Christian life if there was more Bible 
reading and praying. Jesus said (Matt., 
26:41): ^^ Watch and pray, that ye enter 
not into temptation." Have the word on 
ihe end of the tongue, and the temptation 
will be overcome. 

Read and study here very carefully the 
temptation of our Savior in Matt., 4:1-11, 
and in the parallel passages. How did Jes- 
us overcome the prince of darkness % What 



ASTKONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 109 

was Ms weapon? I answer, it was the 
Word of God. You will observe that it was 
by quoting Scripture that Jesus put the 
devil to flight. To each temptation he re- 
sponded, ^^It is written." If the Christian 
w^ould always say, when tempted, ^^It is 
written," ^^Get thee behind me, Satan," he 
would have an easier time, and fewer temp- 
tations to overcome. 

Brother Christian, when temptations as- 
sail you, go to the Word. If you are tempt- 
ed to drink, turn to Proverbs, 23:31, and 
read : ' ' Look not upon the wine when it is 
red, when it giveth its color in the cup, when 
it moveth itself aright," and the drink habit 
will soon cease. If you are inclined to 
lounge around home instead of going to the 
house of God on the Lord's day, turn to 
Heb., 10:25, ^'Not forsaking the assembling 
of ourselves together, as the manner of some 
is." If the devil puts it into your heart to 
dance, quote 1 John, 2:15: ^^Love not the 
world, neither the things that are in the 
world." Also Gal., 5 :17-19, and Rom., 12 :2. 
When tempted to say naughty things 
about some one, turn to James, 4 :11, ^^ Speak 
not evil one of another, brethren." Oh, 
how strong we would be if we only knew the 
Word! Are you weak and puny, brother, in 



110 ASTEO^-OMY AXD THE BIBLE. 

the Lord's cause? Do you feel no interest 
in the Word? Open your bible at Eph., 6: 
10-18, and you will there find your source 
of strength as a soldier of Jesus Christ. 
What is it? ^'Put on the whole armor of 
God, that you may be strong in the Lord 
and the power of His might.'' ^^The sword 
of the SjDirit, which is the Word of God," is 
an important part of the soldier's panoply. 
I want to fight ; I must war a good warfare ; 
I must fight the good fight of faith ; God is 
my Father; Jesus is my Captain; I am a 
soldier ; the word is my sword, and the devil 
is my enemy. How shall I fight ? Heb., 12 : 
2: ^^ Looking unto Jesus, the author and fin- 
isher of our faith," 

Again, the reading of the Scriptures is 
the great source of nourishment to the soul. 
The soul must be fed as well as the body. 
Jer. 15 :16 : ^^Thy words were found, and I 
did eat them; and Thy word was unto me 
the joy and rejoicing of mine heart." 1 
Pet., 2:2: ^^As newborn babes, desire the 
sincere milk of the Word, that ye may grow 
thereby." 



ASTRO:>^OMY AI>rD THE BIBLE. Ill 

Lesson 7. Read the Bible Daily. 

^^And searched the Scriptures daihj, 
whether these things tvere so/'— Acts, 17:11. 

In conversation with the Jews, Jesus en- 
joined upon them the duty of searching the 
Scriptures (John, 5:39), ^^For," said He, 
^4n them ye think ye have eternal life.'' 
Now, to search means to seek after with 
diligence, to hunt for something. Never 
open the Bible to read it in a careless, in- 
different manner. Open it for a purpose; 
read it to find the rich truths which it con- 
tains ; give yourself wholly to it, and think 
and ponder well what you read. And let 
this become a daily habit of your life. Sun- 
day reading is a poor method. Did you ever 
think how long it would take you to read 
through the Bible by reading just one chap- 
ter every Sunday'? (And a great many do 
not read even that much.) By reading one 
chapter in the Bible each Sunday, you read 
fifty-two chapters during the year, and, as 
there are 1189 chapters in the Bible, it will 
take you as many years as 52 are contained 
times in 1189, which are a little less than 23 
years. Just think of it ! You forget faster 
than you learn by that process. 



112 ASTEONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 

Do you say that you cannot spare the time 
to read every day'? Is it not true that you 
spend a great deal of time every day in 
foolishness and idleness ? Now, suppose you 
devote that time to the study of the Scrip- 
tures, and see what a difference there will 
be in the course of a year. But, probably 
you say, my business, will not permit me to 
read so often, much as I might desire to do 
so. Are you realy in earnest, brother, when 
you say that? I believe that the busiest 
man in the world can and ought to read his 
Bible every day, and it is a lame excuse to 
say that he can not. But how can it be done ? 

1. Time. Set apart at least a half hour 
each day for this work. Let nothing inter- 
fere. Neglect other things before you neglect 
the Bible. Devote, say, ten minutes when 
3^ou rise in the morning to Bible reading, 
ten at noon, and ten at night before retiring. 
If you will let this practice become a habit, 
you will soon love to read the Bible, and 
nothing can keep you from it. 

2. And that is the right way to read the 
Bible, because you love it, and not because 
it is a duty. Fall in love with it, ''delight'' 
in it, as David did (Psa., 1:1-2), make it a 
real pleasure, make it more interesting than 



ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 113 

the fascinating novel, or the newspaper, or 
the latest exciting book in the market. 

3. Arrange to do this now^ and begin the 
practice at once. Purchase a vest pocket 
Testament, and if you should be on a jour- 
ney for a few days, you can carry the word 
with you in convenient form. 



Lesson 8. The Bible Its Own Interpeeter. 

The Word of God harmonizes througout. 
It does not contradict itself, as some super- 
ficial readers and enemies of the Bible have 
claimed. True, there may be found some 
apparent contradictions, and some things 
hard for us to explain, and to thoroughly 
understand ; but when the Bible as a whole 
is honestly studied and dealt with as other 
books of like antiquity, it can be made to 
explain itself. To illustrate what I mean, 
James says (Jas. 1-13) ''For God cannot be 
tempted with evil, neither tempteth He any 
man;" while Gen. 22:1 reads as follows: 
''And it came to pass after these things that 
God did tempt Abraham.'' Now, one of 
these pasages says that God did tempt Abra- 
ham, and the other declares that he tempts 
no man. There is evidently an apparent 
contradiction here. How can we get out 



114 ASTEOXOMY AND THE BIBLE. 

of tlie difficulty'? How can both of these 
pasages be true, and yet there be no real 
contradiction? The difficulty all comes 
from the word ''tempt/' When we under- 
stand that James' meaning of the word 
tempt is altogether different from that 
found in Genesis, all is plain. In the refer- 
ence to Abraham, the word is used in the 
sense of prove, or try, and the revised ver- 
sion of this pasage reads that way, ^^God 
did prove Abraham,'' while James uses the 
word in the sense of enticing to sin. Now 
God tempts man in the former sense, but 
does not in the latter. In other words, the 
Lord frequently proves or tries men in the 
various circumstances of life, but he neA^ei* 
entices or subjects any one to do wrong. 

The word of God will always be found to 
harmonize after honest and faithful efforts 
are made to understand it. It has one Di- 
vine author, the Lord; but He used many 
different individuals, at different times, 
and under different circumstances, to write 
in human language what he wishes mankind 
"to know. In studying the Bible, always use 
a copy with references, and many things 
hard to understand will be found explained 
in the references and in the marginal read- 
ings. Look at the passages on the same sub- 



ASTEONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 115 

ject in other portions of the Scriptures, and 
they will throw light on the dark passages. 
For example, if the ^'New Birth,'' Jno. 
3:1-8, is not made very plain by the Savior, 
read the parallel passages : Jno. 1 :12-13 ; 1 
Cor. 4:15; 1 Pet. 1:22-23; Jas. 1:18; Acts 
2:38; Mark 16:15; Rom. 10:9-10, 17; and a 
flood of light will come to you, and all will be 
plain. Also study the context, and the 
character of the people addressed, and the 
circumstances that surround them, as well 
as the history of the writer. 



Lesson 9. Commit Scripture to Memory. 

This will be found a good practice. First, 
it will strengthen the mind, and the practice 
of memorizing a few verses of God's word 
each day will be beneficial in many ways. 
The word of the Lord should be hidden deep 
down in our hearts. ^^Then remembered I the 
word of the Lord," said Peter, Acts 11:16. 
^^ Remember ye the law of Moses my ser- 
vant," Mai. 4:4. ^^ Remember the word 
that I said unto you," Jno. 15:20. 'But be- 
loved, remember ye the words which were 
spoken before of the. Apostles of our Lord 
Jesus Christ," Jude 17. Thus you see we 
have chapter and verse for this practice. 



1 16 ASTEOXOMY AND THE BIBLE. 

It is enjoined upon tis to remember the 
words spoken, but bow few are doing this ? 
If we would be mighty in the Scriptures, let 
us retain more of what we read. The Chris- 
tian who makes this a daily habit will be 
much better prepared for his work than he 
would otherwise be. Whether his business 
is preaching or other Christian work, it 
matters not ; he has an advantage over him 
who never memorizes any portion of the 
Bible. Try it, brother Christian. If you 
are in a bed of affliction, or about your 
daily work, it will be a great comfort to 
have the word hidden away in the heart, so 
that you can recall it when it is needed. And 
if you are in the midst of a controversy 
with the enemy, it will be on your tongue's 
end to put to silence the false reasoner. ^^Is 
not my word like as fire, saith the Lord, and 
like a hammer that breaketh the rock to 
pieces r' Jer. 23:29. 

While the age we live in is not an age of 
retaining, but of reading, change the order 
a little here and retain more while you read 
less. Be sure to read at least three chapters 
in the Bible per day, however. Never neg- 
lect that. But memorize as much as three 
verses every day. Get a practical Scripture, 



ASTEONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 117 

or a promise, or something that will inspire 
you to better work. 



Lesson 10. Why was the Bible Written '^ 

There are two main reasons why Grod 
gave to the world a divine revelation. 

1. To reveal himself in the great work of 
redemption. Nature tells us something of 
his power and majesty. '^The heavens de- 
clare the glory of God; and the firmanent 
showeth His handiwork." Psa. 19:1. But 
the wisest could not by searching find out 
God without a revelation. Some read na- 
ture and say that they can find no God, 
while others read both nature and revela- 
tion and find God in both. Happy is the 
man who can see the evidences of a Supreme 
Being in everything. But it is only in rev- 
elation that we can see God's great love to 
the world and His willingness to save man- 
kind. 

This revelation which God has given is 
declared to be perfect, ^The law of the 
Lord is perfect, converting the soul." Psa. 
19 :7. God has said all that needs to be said ; 
He has made known all that needs to be 
made known ; He has written all that needs 
to be written. His revelation is perfect. 



118 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 

(1). It is perfect as to its fullness. Rev. 
22:18. Man must not add anything to it^ 
nor take anything from it. 

(2) . It is perfect as to its power in leading 
man to believe. Faith comes by hearing, and 
hearing by the word of Grod." Rom 10:17. 

(3). It is perfect as to the effects which 
it works in the soul. It imparts joy and 
happiness. ^'The Statutes of the Lord are 
right, rejoicing the heart," said the Psalm- 
ist. '^ These things have I spoken unto you 
that my joy might remain in you, and that 
your joy might be full." Jno. 15 :11. 

(4). It is perfect in making knowm the 
way of salvation. Where else besides the 
Bible can w^e learn the way of eternal life ^ 

2. To reveal man unto himself. We learn 
something about ourselves in the books that 
men have written. Text-books on physi- 
ology, hygiene, and anatomy tell us about 
the structure of the hmnan body, and how 
we may have good health. But the Bible 
tells us all about ourselves; that w^e have a 
compound nature— a body formed of dust, 
and a soul. Gen. 2 :7 ; 1 Thess. 5 :23. Paul 
speaks of the ''outward man wiiich perish- 
es, and the inward man which is renewed 
day by day. 2 Cor. 4:16. The Savior taught 
that the soul is of vaster importance than 



ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 119 

the whole world. Mark 8:36-37. The Bible 
teaches us that man is an imperfect being, 
sinful and fallen ; and that his redemption 
is in Jesus Christ. The Bible is a looking 
glass in which a man may behold his natur- 
al self. Jas. 1 :23-24. He can there see all 
of his imperfections and blemishes. The 
Bible also reveals to man his duties here in 
this world, and what is to become of him 
hereafter. 



Lesson 11. The Promises of the Bible. 

''The Lord is not slack concerning his 
promise, as some men count slackness."— 
2 Pet. 3:9. 

The promises of the Bible are many and 
various. Some of the Bible is command and 
statute; some is poetry; some is warning 
and threatening, and some is promise. 
There are many precious promises all along 
through the Bible, and it is delightful to 
read and meditate upon them. The first 
clear promise in the Bible has reference to 
the Savior, and the victory he is finally to 
gain over the devil. Gen. 3 :15. There are al- 
so promises: (1). To the child of God, Jno. 
14:13, where a reference is made to the 
^' house of many mansions." Jesus has 



120 ASTEONOMY AND THE BIBLE, 

gone to prepare a place for each one of Ms 
followers. (2). To the penitent, Acts 2: 
38 :39, which are pardon and the gift of the 
Holy Spirit. (3). To the finally faithful, 
Eev. 2:10, which is the cro^Ti of life. (4). 
To the winner of souls, Dan. 12:10, which 
declares that they shall shine as the stars 
forever and ever. Dear reader, search for 
the precious promises of the Bible, and 
learn at least one each day, and you will be 
richh^ paid for all the time, effort and 
trouble s]3ent. And when you get old and 
cannot read, you will have the satisfaction 
of meditating much on the beautiful prom- 
ises of God's word, and they will be such a 
source of happiness to you. Learn a prom- 
ise contained in a single verse of Scripture 
each day, and in ten years you will have 
memorized 3,650 verses of Scripture; and 
you will have that many verses to cheer and 
stimulate you, and to strengthen your hope 
in God. It is a good plan to have a little blank 
book, to be called your ^'Promise Book," 
boimd in cloth, so that it will last as long as 
3^ou live. Begin to gather promises Jan. 1, 
or any other day in the year, and put down 
the promise, and Scripture reference op- 
posite, with the date. Then turn to the Bi- 
ble and memorize it. Go on in this way re- 



ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 121 

cording a promise each day till the book is 
filled, and what a treasury of promises you 
will have after awile ! 



Lesson 12. The Bible Inspired. 

^^AU Scripture is given iy inspiration of 
God, and is profitable for doctrine, for re- 
proof, for correction, for instruction in 
righteousness/'— 2 Tim. 3:16. 

That the Scripture of both the Old and 
New Testaments are inspired is evident 
from the very best testimony. The term 
*' Scripture" in the passage quoted above 
certainly has reference to the Old Testa- 
ment, and, it may be, to portions of the 
New, but I wish to give some other proofs 
of the inspiration of both Old and New 
Testament Scripture right here. The writers 
themselves claimed inspiration. ^^The Spir- 
it of the Lord spake by me, and His word 
was in my tongue." 2 Sam. 23:1-2. Now, 
David uttered these words, and he was one 
of the Old Testament writers. Grod's word 
was in his tongue, and he spake by the in- 
spiration of the Holy Spirit. 

^^The word of the Lord came expressly 
lanto Ezekiel, the priest, the son of Buzi, in 



122 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 

the land of the Chaldeans, by the river Che- 
bar, and the hand of the Lord was then 
upon him." Ezek. 1:3. This passage cer- 
tainly teaches that the things spoken by 
Ezekiel were the Lord's words, but that 
they were spoken through Ezekiel as an in- 
strnnient. He was inspired. Read the en- 
tire book. ' ' Remember ye the law of Moses, 
my servant, which I conmianded unto him 
in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes 
and judgments,'' MaL 4:4. The law given 
by Moses, with the statutes and judgments, 
w^as God's law through Moses He was 
God's prophet and law giver, and what he 
spoke in the ears of all Israel and what he 
wrote were by the inspiration of God. 

Let us next consider the fact that the New 
Testament authors seem to bear testimony 
to the inspiration of the Old. ^^ Search the 
Scriptures, for in them ye think ye have 
eternal life," John 5:39. Jesus certainly 
had reference to the thirty-nine books of 
the Old Testament here. They testified of 
Him. Read here also Deut. 24 :44-45. And 
by reading Acts 3 :20-24 we get another val- 
uable testimony from Peter. He claims 
that it was God who spake through Moses 
and all the prophets concerning the Lord Je- 
sus Christ. 



ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 123 

And now, if the Old Testament is inspir- 
ed, so is the New. But we offer the follow- 
ing proofs of the inspiration of the New 
Testament : 

The writers were recognized as inspired 
by those to whom they wrote, and they 
claimed inspiration. '^When ye received the 
word of God, which ye heard of us, ye re- 
ceived it not as the word of men, but as it is 
in truth, the word of Grod, which effectually 
worketh also in you that believe.'' 1 Thess. 
2:13. Now read 1 Cor. 2:4; 2 Pet. 3:15-16,^ 
and Jude, 17. Many other Scriptures might 
be produced, but is there any further need 
of testimony? When you are reading the 
Bible, then, you are reading the Word of 
God. 

But what does Paul say about this inspir- 
ed word in 2 Tim. 3 :16-17 ? 

1. ^^It is profit able/ ^ All of the time we 
devote to its study, then, is time well spent. 
But how is it profitable ? 

(a) *^For doctrine," (b) ^^For reproof." 
(c) ''For correction." (d) ''For instruc- 
tion in righeousness. ' ' 

2. '^It thoroughly furnishes the man of 
God to every good tvork/' The person who 
desires to be an efficient worker for Christ 



124 ASTEONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 

may come to the Bible with perfect assur- 
ance of full instruction. 



Lesson 13. Able to Make Wise Unto 
Salvation. 

''And that from a cliild thou hast known 
the Holy Scriptures, tvhich are aile to make 
thee tvise unto salvation through faith 
which is in Christ Jesus.''— 2 Tim., 3:15. 

As the New Testament had not yet been 
written as a whole and gathered together, 
the apostle must have referred to the Old 
Testament writings here, by the expression 
^'Holy Scriptures." But how could the Old 
Testament make wise unto salvation? It 
could not, except through faith in Jesus as 
the Savior of the world. Christ is seen all 
through the Old Testament in prophecy, 
type and promise. From first to last, it all 
centers in Him. The first promise in the 
Bible (Gen. 3 :15) is a clear reference to the 
Savior, described there as the ^^Seed of the 
woman'' who would ^^ bruise the serpent's 
head." The offering of Isaac by Abraham 
(Gen. 22:1-12) pointed to the great offer- 
ing, once for all, the Lord Jesus Christ. The 
whole Tabernacle service, described in the 
Pentateuch, gives a beautiful lesson looking 



ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 125 

to gospel times. The giving of the law 
through Moses on the mount is typical of 
the giving of the better law by Jesus Christ 
on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-38). 
Every slain lamb under the old covenant 
pointed to the ^'Lamb of God, who taketh 
away the sins of the world." 

In like manner, the reader is made much 
wiser by reading the prophecies of Isaiah, 
Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel and all the oth- 
ers, as many things in them look to gospel 
times for their fulfillment. It was in this 
way that Timothy was made wise unto sal- 
vation. His mother and his grandmother 
were his instructors, and they had faithful- 
ly instructed him even from his youth in 
these great matters. He who reads the Old 
Testament properly has his faith in Jesus 
increased, and is made wiser unto salvation. 



Lesson 14. Some Rules foe Bible Study. 

^^ Study to sJioiv thyself approved unto 
God/' -2 Tim. 2:15. 

It is, then, a command by inspiration to 
study the Word. And, as we do not expect 
to learn and understand the information in 
any other book till it is studied, neither 
should we expect to understand the Bible 



126 ASTRONOMY a:n'd the bible. 

till it is carefully read and studied. 
^^ Study," said the apostle; but he gave no 
particular rules for so doing in this connec- 
tion. But we will offer a few rules which we 
have found to be good ones, in the study of 
the Holy Scriptures: 

1. Study the Bwle by hooks. Take up a 
book at a time, and give it a thorough read- 
ing. Study for example, the book of Gene- 
sis, which containes fifty chapters, and 
spend at least two or three months on it be- 
fore beginning some other book. Then 
change and read a book in the New Testa- 
ment; for example, one of the gospels or 
one of Paul's letters. Do not hurry over the 
reading. Take plentj^ of time. 

2. Study hy topics. Take, for example, 
the subject of ' ' Hope, ' ' based on 1 Pet. 3 :15 : 
^^And be ready always to give an answer to 
every man that asketh you a reason of the 
hope that is in you. ' ' Now, gather together 
all of the princijoal passages on this subject, 
and study them well. This will prove a val- 
uable and pleasant method of Bible study, 
but you must keep your Bible Text-book 
and Concordance close at hand. 

3. Study regtdarly every day. This is 
one of the most important rules that we can 



D THE BIBLE. 127 

give. He who reads Ins Bible every day will 
never stumble and fall. He is secure against 
the dangers of this world. 

4. Study the Word critically. It is not 
out of place to have a critical turn of mind 
while reading the Bible, if you are search- 
ing with an honest purpose. When reading 
anything, it is natural to inquire, ^'Why is 
this ^oV The wise man said, ^'I applied 
mine heart to know, and to search, and to 
seek out wisdom, and the reason of things.'' 
Eccl., 7:25. 

5. Study tvith intense interest. That is, 
be interested in what you are reading. Get 
full of the subject. Be wholly absorbed for 
the time being, in the matter under consid- 
eration. The Bible is the most interesting 
book in the world. God's great love in re- 
demption is its theme. 

6. Study it prayerfully. Ask God's 
blessing on your earnest efforts. Invoke 
the divine guidance. The Psalmist said: 
^^Open Thou mine eyes, that I may behold 
wondrous things out of Thy law."— Psa. 
119:18. 

7. Study it, Relieving every ivord of it. 
Do not doubt when you read. God is the 
author of it, and it is all true. ^^ Heaven 



128 ASTEONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 

and earth sliall pass away, but my word 
shall not pass away.''— Matt. 24:35. 

We will, in concluding the lesson, give 
a few Bible rules, which, if observed, will 
lead you to successful study : 

(1). ^^Give attendance to reading.''—! 
Tim. 4:13. 

(2). ^^ Search. "-John 5:39; Acts 17:11. 

(3). ^'Seek."-Isa. 34:16; Eccl. 7:25. 

(4). ^'Meditate."-1 Tim. 4:14; Psa. 1: 
1-2. 

(5). ^Tompare."-l Cor. 2:13. 



Lessox 15. The Proper Dmsiox of the 
Word. 



>> 



^'Rigtlily dividing the Word of Truth. 
—2 Tim., 2:15. 

Nothing is so important as right under- 
sanding here. The Bible can be studied to 
a much better advantage if we have the 
right conceptions of this subject. And then 
the student will be enabled to avoid much 
confusion. Every part of the Bible is not 
equally important to every individual. 
Some of it was addressed primarily to the 
Jews, while other portions were intended 
for all people. Eemember that the Bible 
is not a single work of only one author, ex- 



ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 129 

cept in the sense that God is the author of 
it, but it is composed of sixty-six different 
books, by about forty different authors^ 
Neither was it all written at one time, but 
the different parts of it were composed dur- 
ing a period of not less than 1600 years. 

Let us consider its proper division here^. 
so that we may get the most good out of it 
while we are studying it. 

1. The Bible is one book, yet it is com-- 
posed of two great divisions : The Old Tes- 
tament, consisting of thirty-nine books, by 
about thirty different authors ; and the Ne^^ 
Testament, consisting of twenty-seven 
books, by eight different authors. The OM 
Testament is further divided into 929 chap- 
ters while the New has only 260 chapters*. 
This latter division is man's work, but it is 
a great convenience. A declaration from 
Paul here will help us to understand these 
two great divisions, Heb. 1:1-2: ^^God^ 
who at sundry times and in divers manners^, 
spake in time past unto the fathers by the 
prophets, hath, in these last days, spoken 
unto us by His son." 

The ^Hime past" referred to here has re- 
ference to the entire period from God's fii^^ 
revelation to man till the coming of Christy 
while ^Hhese last days" refer to God's rev^- 



130 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 

lation through Christ and the Apostles, and 
embrace only that part of the Bible called 
the New Testament. 

2. There is also a sevenfold division of 
'the Bible, which we will consider here. 
■Jesus said, Luke 24:44, ^'That all things 
must be fulfilled, which were written in the 
law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in 
the Psalms, concerning me.^' Thus it is 
seen that the Old Testament has three great 
^'divisions. (1). ^^The law of Moses,'' which 
is called the Pentateuch. (2) ^^The Pro- 
phets." (3) ^'The Psahns.'' This latter 
^^^division embraces several other books be- 
sides the one called '^The Book of Psalms," 
and is sometimes known as the Holy writ- 
ings or Devotional Books. If you wish to 
:study these divisions thoroughly turn to 
page 651 in Smith's Old Testament History, 
.mnd you will find a full account of them. 

As to the New Testament, it is naturally 
-^divided as follows: 

(1) Biographical. Its first four books, 
Mathew, Mark, Luke and John, tell about 
ifche wonderful life of the Savior; his deeds 
of love and mercy; his power over nature, 
disease and death; his trials, crucifixion, 
death, burial, resurrection and ascension to 
lieaven. The reading of these books will 



I 



ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 131 

lead to faith in Him as the Savior of the 
world. 

(2) Historical, Its only strictly histori- 
cal book is the Acts of the Apostles. We 
read here of a new order of things. The old 
covenant is now done away. The Jewish 
church is now at an end, and the church of 
Christ has its beginning. The apostles un- 
der the inspiration of the Holy Spirit begin 
to preach Jesus Christ and him crucified. 
This book gives the history of the establish- 
ment of the church among both Jews and 
Gentiles. It is called the Book of conver- 
sions, and contains the law of pardon for 
all time to come. Read especially Acts 
2:38; 9:1-15; 10:1-47; 16:16-34; 22 :i-16. 

3. Episolary. The third division con- 
sists of twenty-one letters addressed to the 
saved. They were not written for unbeliev- 
ers, although this class may profit by read- 
ing them. They teach the children of Grod 
how to grow in grace, knowledge, power, 
strength and joy. We learn from them how 
to overcome the temptations of the world, 
and how to go on unto perfection. Some 
of these letters were written to churches, 
and some to individuals. Paul wrote four- 
teen of these epistles, James wrote one, Pet- 



132 ASTEONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 

er wrote two, John wrote three, and Jude 
wrote one. 

4. Prophetical, And the last division is 
the book of Revelation, which is prophecy. 
It shows that the church of Christ, after 
many hard struggles, will finally triumph. 
^'The kingdoms of this world will become 
the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, 
and he shall reign forever.'' Rev. 11:15. 
Much of this book is unfulfilled, but God's 
children ought to study it, and they will find 
much in it to encourage and strengthen 
them. 



Lesson 16. Moee Aeout the Bible. 



We never get tired of learning about the 
Bible. It is a living book. It is always 
fresh and new : and the more we read it the 
more we want to read it. We get fresh cour- 
age every time we look into it. It brightens 
our hope each time we read it. Please con- 
sider, then, a few things which will be help- 
ful to you : 

1. The word Bible means The Book. It 
is the best book in the world. It has more 
influence over the world than any other 
book. Infidels have tried to kill its influence 
and to crush it from the face of the earth, 



ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 133 

but all of their efforts have been in vain. 
The Bible is living still. The Bible is bet- 
ter understood today than ever before. It 
is being read by more people now than it 
has ever been in any previous age. It is be- 
ing translated into more languages, and 
published and scattered abroad over the 
earth more freely than it has ever been be- 
fore. It comforts more broken hearts than 
any other book. It gives more real happi- 
ness than all other books in the world com- 
bined. It is The Book. No other book is 
to be compared with the Bible. If you will 
read it and obey it, dear reader, it will lead 
you to heaven. 

2. It is variously spoken of by the divine 
writers as the ^'Scriptures,'' the ''Holy 
Scriptures,'' the "Scriptures of Truth," 
the "Word," the "Word of God," the 
"Word of Christ," the "Word of Truth," 
the "Book," the "Book of the Lord," the 
"Book of the Law," the "Oracles of God," 
and the "Sword of the Spirit." All of 
these designations are appropriate. It is a 
full revelation of God, and sufficient for all 
of our wants. It is an unerring guide to the 
children of men. While we are in the dark- 
ness of this world it is a lamp unto our feet 
and a light unto our pathway. God's Word 



134 ASTEONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 

is living and powerful; it lifts up the sav- 
age, and melts the hardest heart. It was 
written for our perfect instruction. Noth- 
ing is ever at any time to be added to it, or 
taken from it. It is perfect. 

3. Conclusion. God is the author of the 
Bible. He inspired about forty men to 
write it. About thirty men wrote the Old 
Testament and eight men wrote the New. 
From the time the first book of the Old Tes- 
tament w^as written till the last one was 
composed there transpired over one thou- 
sand years of history. The first, in order of 
time, of the books of the Bible, was written 
about 1520 years B. C, while the last one 
was written 96 years A. D. The Bible was, 
therefore, composed during a period a lit- 
tle over 1600 years. A period of about sixty 
years transpired from the time the first 
New Testament book was written till the last 
one was composed. 



f 



1 



ASTEONGMY AND THE BIBLE. 135 



PAET FOUR. 



BIBLE STUDIES IN OUTLINE. 



BIBLICAL HISTORY. 



Lesson 1. Creation to the Exodus, B. O. 
1491. 



Bible History is really the basis of sue-- 
cessful Bible study. 

I. We iegin with creation and run over 
2513 years of the very earliest history of 
mankind, 

1. Scriptures to be studied: Genesis and: 
Ex. down to 12 :37. 



1.36 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 

2. Genesis runs over 2369 years, and Ex. 
12 :37 brings the history down 144 years fur- 
ther, to the ExoDiJS. 

3. This 2513 years is called the Patriar- 
dial Dispensation. 

II. Look up and study the following : 

1. The most prominent persons of this 
lesson. 

2. The countries, towns, rivers, seas and 
mountains. 

3. Creation. Fall of Man, Flood and call 
^f Abraham. 

4. Histories of Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Mo- 
ses and Pharaoh. 

Note : Study the lesson thoroughly, and 
answer the questions by numbers. 



Questions. 

1. How much time does this lesson cover? 

2. Mention the prominent persons of this 
lesson. 

3. What countries, cities, rivers, seas 
and mountains are mentioned in this lesson ? 

4. Mention the main facts in the lives of 
the following persons: Adam, Enoch, 
Shem, Abraham, Jacob, Laban, Esau. 

5. Where did Abraham build altars? 
Why? 



ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 137 

6. How long after Enoch was translated 
till the flood? 

7. Give dates of the following events: 
(1). Death of Seth. (2). Death of Noah, 
(3). Building of Babel. (4). Death of 
Isaac. (5). The famine in Canaan. (6). 
Death of Joseph. (7). Call of Moses. 

8. Give the histories of Lot, Ishmael, and 
Abimelech. 

9. Where was Luz'? Mamre? Padan- 
Aram? Ararat '^ Sechem? Dothan'? 

10. How long from the death of Joseph 
to the Exodus ? 

11. Describe the preparations for the 
Exodus. 



Lesson 2. Exodus to the Death of Joshua. 

This lesson does not embrace so much 
time as lesson one, but the scripture lesson 
is quite extensive. 

I. Begin the lesson at Ex, 12:37^ and 
study the remainder of Exodus, Numbers^ 
Deuteronomy and Joshua, also Lev,, 8 to 10. 

1. The beginning of the lesson finds Is- 
rael still in Egypt, but marching out. 

2. It closes with the death of Joshua, B. 
C. 1426. 



138 ASTEONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 

3. The lesson, therefore, embraces a peri- 
od of 65 years. 

II. Important Transactions, 

The Exodus, Crossing the Red Sea, Giv- 
ing the Law, Setting up the Tabernacle, 
Forty Years Wandering, Death of Moses, 
Conquest of Canaan, Death of Joshua. 

Questions. 

1. On what day did Israel leave Rameses. 
and what was their number ^ 

2. Mention the stopping places from 
Rameses to Sinai. 

3. Describe the crossing of the Red Sea. 

4. Mention the particulars of the giving 
of the law. When did that covenant cease ? 

5. Give a brief description of the Taber- 
nacle with its furniture. 

6. Mention the chief incidents of the 
wanderings to the death of Moses. 

7. Describe the defeat of Amalek. 

8. Mention particulars of the destruc- 
tion of Korah, Dathan and Abirain. 

9. Describe the crossing of the Jordan, 
and the fall of Jericho. 

10. How was Canaan divided among the 
Tribes? 



ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 139 

11. Give dates of the following events: 
(1). Mission of the twelve spies. (2). 
Moses' sin at the rock. (3). Deaths of Mir- 
iam, Aaron and Moses. (4). Setting up 
of the Tabernacle at Shiloh. (5). Destruc- 
tion of Ai. (6). Standing still of the sun 
and moon. (7). The burning of Hazor. 

12. Where was Joshua's inheritance? 

13. What and where were the six cities 
of refuge ^ 

14. Where was Kadesh-Barnea 'F Mount 
Hor? Tabor? Hermon? EbaH Nebo? 



Lesson 3, Joshua's Death to Anointing 
OF Saul. 

This lesson runs over 331 years, and 
brings us down to the inauguration of the 
undivided monarchy. 

I. Scriptures to he Studied. 

1. Judges, Ruth and first 10 chapters of I 
Samuel. 

2. The book of Judges records the his- 
tory from Joshua to Samson, and covers a 
period of over 300 years. 

3. The incidents recorded in Ruth oc- 
curred in the days of the Judges. 

II. Prominent Persons. 
1. The 15 Judges. 



140 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 

2. Naomi, Ruth, Boaz and Saul. 

III. While studying, note the different 
nations spoken of, as the Canaanites, Philis- 
tines, Amalekites, Midiantes and Moabites. 
Study the geography of these countries. 

Questions. 

1. Grive characteristics of the book of 
Judges. 

2. Who was the first Judge? The sec- 
ond? 

3. What woman as Judge delivered Is- 
rael? 

4. Tell about Gideon's call and work as 
Judge. 

5. How long did Tola and Jair judge Is- 
rael? 

6. Describe Jephthah's work. What was 
his vow, and what resulted from it ? 

7. Describe briefly the work of Samson. 

8. What kind of Judge was Eli? De- 
scribe his death. How old was he then ? 

9. Describe the early life of Samuel, and 
his relations with Saul. 

10. Whose history is recorded in the Tbook 
of Euth? 

11. Why did Elimelech and Naomi go to 
dwell in Moab ? Where is Moab ? 



ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 141 

12. WhowasBoaz? Who was Ruth? 

13. Who wrote the book of Euth? 

14. How long did the ark remain in the 
country of the Philistines ? 

15. Who was Dagon ? 

16. Where were Askelon and Gaza ? 

17. In what year B. C. does the presont 
lesson terminate ? 



Lesson 4. Anointing of Saul to the 
Death of David. 

This is a very important time in the his- 
tory of God's people. The monarchy has 
been inaugurated, and we are now to study 
the history of two kings. 

I. Scriptures to he Studied: 

1. The remainder of 1 Samuel, all of 2 
Samuel ; 1 Kings 1 and 2 ; and the parallel 
history in 1 Chron. 10 to 29. 

2. Time covered, 80 years, from 1095 to 
1015 B. C. 

3. It embraces the two reigns of Saul and 
David, and each of them reigned 40 years. 

4. Those Psalms of whichDavid is author 
were composed during this period. 



142 astronomy and the bible. 
Questions. 

1. When was Saul made king? How 
long did he reign, and how did he die ? 

2. What wars of Saul are recorded in 1 
Samuel 11th to 16th chapters. 

3. Was Saul obedient to the Lord? 

4. What can you say of David and Gro- 
liath? 

5. Describe David's flight from the court 
of Saul. 

6. Why did Saul desire the death of Dav 
id? 

7. Describe David's kindness and gener- 
osity to Saul. 

8. When did Samuel die, and what effect 
did it have on Israel ? 

9. What civil war after David was made 
king in Hebron? 

10. How many times was David anoint- 
ed? 

11. How old was David when he began 
to reign? 

12. Describe the invasion of the Philis- 
tines after David was made king over all Is- 
rael. 

13. Describe the war with the Ammonites. 
(2 Sam. 9 and 10.) 

14. Give dates of the following events : 



ASTKONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 143 

(1). David's great sin. 
(2). Birth of Solomon. 
(3). Eevolt of Absalom. 
(4). Revolt of Sheba. 
(5). Adoni jab's rebellion. 

15. What became of Saul's seven sons? 

16. What was David's last charge to Sol- 
omon ^ 



Lesson 5. Death of David to the Di- 
vision OF the Kingdom. 

We are to study now the life and reign of 
Solomon. The undivided monarchy now 
takes its place among the great surrounding 
monarchies of Solomon's time. 

I. Scriptures to he Studied: 

1. The first eleven chapters of 1 Kings; 
and the first nine chapters of 2 Chronicles. 

2. This lesson covers a period of 40 years, 
from 1015 B. C. to 975 B. C. 

II. The Great Events of his Reign. 

1. Anointed King. 

2. The building of the Temple and its 
dedication. 

3. Solomon's other buildings. 

4. Visit of the Queen of Sheba. 

5. His great sins towards the latter part 
of his life. 



144 astronomy and the bible. 
Questions. 

1. Mention briefly the main facts in Solo- 
mon's life till the building of the temple. 

2. Who was Solomon's mother? How 
did Solomon get possession of the throne? 

3. What was Solomon's provision for one 
day? What was the exteiat of his domin- 
ion? 

4. How many proverbs and songs are at- 
tributed to him ? What of his wisdom ? 

5. When did Solomon begin the temple, 
and how long was he in building it? In 
what year was it completed ? 

6. Describe the different parts of the 
temple. Tell about its dedication. 

7. Give particulars of the building of 
Solomon's house. 

8. What was God's covenant with Solo- 
mon when he appeared to him the second 
time? 

9. Describe the visit of the Queen of She- 
ba. Where was Sheba? What gifts did 
Solomon receive from the queen ? 

10. What of Solomon's chariots and 
horsemen ? 

11. Of what nationalities were Solo- 
mon's wives? What law did he violate in 
marrying these wives? 



1 



ASTKONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 145 

12. Describe the rending away of the 
kingdom. 

13. When and where was Solomon bur- 
ied? 



Lesson 6. Division to the Captivity of 
THE Ten Tribes. 

There are now two kingdoms. Jeroboanj 
becomes the first king of Israel ; and Reho- 
boam the first king of Judah. 

I. Scriptures to he Studied: 

1. The remainder of 1 Kings, and the 
first seventeen chapters of 2 Kings ;. also 2 
Chronicles 10 to 31. 

2. This lesson runs over 254 years of his- 
tory. 

II. During this peroid there reigned all 
of the 19 kings of Israel and the first 13 rul- 
ers of Judah. 

III. Seventeen prophets appeared dur- 
ing this period, viz : Ahijah, Shemaiah, A- 
zariah, Hanani, Jehu, Elijah, Micaiah, Elisi 
ha, Jehaziel, Jehoiada, Jonah, Amos, Hosea^, 
Joel, Isaiah, Micah and Obed. 



146 astronomy and the bible. 
Questions. 

1. Describe the revolt of the Ten Tribes., 

2. How long did Eehoboam reign, and 
what was his age when he began to reign ? 

3. How long had Jeroboam been on the 
throne of Israel when Asa began to reign 
over Judah"? What kind of king was 
Asa'? 

4. Describe the reigns of the six kings 
who succeeded Jeroboam. 

5. How long did Zimri reign ? How did 
he die ? 

6. Give the story of Elijah. 

7. Who was Ben-Hadad? Give his his- 
tory. 

8. Who was Jezebel^ Give her history. 

9. When did Aliaziah begin to reign over 
Israel ? What kind of king was he '^ 

10. Describe the translation of Elijah. 

11. How long did Jehoram reign over Is- 
rael? 

12. How was the Shmiamite's son rais- 
ed? 

13. How was Naaman cured of his lepro- 
sy? 

14. Describe the great famine in Samar- 
ia. 



ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 147 

15. What became of the heads of the 70 
sons of Ahab ? 

16. Describe the reigns of Athaliah, Am- 
aziah and Jeroboam II. 

17. How long did Jehoash reign ? What 
kind of king was he ^ 

18. When did Jehoahaz begin to reign 
over Israel? 

19. Describe the reigns of Shallum, Pe- 
kah and Hoshea. 

20. Give particulars of the captivity of 
Israel. Who was Shalmaneser? Where 
was Assyria'? 

Lesson 7. Captivity of the Ten Tribes to 
THE Babylonian Captivity. 

Hezekiah is still on the throne of Judah ; 
he began to reign B. C. 726, five years be- 
fore the captivity of Israel, and he reigned 
29 years. 

I. Scriptures to he Studied: 

1. Prom the 18th chapter of II Kings to 
the conclusion of the book; also from the 
31st chapter of II Chron. to the conclusion 
of the book. 

2. It would be well to study also portions 
of Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel and the 



148 ASTEONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 

book of Lamentations to get the full benefit 
of this lesson. 

3. This lesson covers 133 years, down to 
588 B. C, and embraces the history of the 
last 8 kings of Judah. 

4. These seven prophets appeared dur- 
ing this period: Nahum, Zephaniah, Jere- 
miah, Habakkuk, Daniel, Ezekiel and Oba^ 
diah. 



Questions. 



1. Describe Hezekiah's reign. How many 
years did he reign after the captivity of Is- 
rael? 

2. Who was Sennacherib? Give his his- 
tory. In what year did he come up against 
Judah? 

3. How did Sennacherib die? 

4. Who informed Hezekiah of his death? 
How was his life lengthened, and how many 
years ? 

5. Describe Manasseh's character. How 
long did he reign ? 

6. How old was Amon when he ascended 
the throne? How long did he reign, and 
how did he die ? 



ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 149 

7. What kind of king was Josiah'? How 
long did he reign, and at what age did he as- 
cend the throne? 

8. What prophecy, made 351 years be- 
fore this, concerning Jeroboam's altar at 
Bethel, was fulfilled by Josiahl 

9. What was the length of Jehoahaz' 
reign. 

10. Give the particulars of Jehoiakim's 
reign. 

11. Tell about the reigns of Jehoiachin 
and Zedekiah. 

12. Give a full description of the Baby- 
lonian captivity. Who was Nebuchadnez- 
zar f Where was Babylon ? 



Lesson 8. Babylonian Captivity to the 
Birth of Christ. 

The 70 years of captivity predicted by 
Jeremiah (25:12) are dated from B. C. 606, 
but the work was not completed till B. C. 
588. 

The captivity was brought to a close by 
the decree of Cyrus (Ezra 1:2.) B. C. 536. 

I. Scriptures to he Studied: 

1. Ezra, Esther and Nehemiah. 

2. Also from the 26th chapter of Ezekiel 
to the close ; from the 3d chapter of Daniel 



150 ASTEONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 

to the close, and the opening chapters of 
Matthew and Luke. 

3. This lesson runs over 584 years down 
to B. C. 4. 

4. There were besides Ezekiel and Dan- 
iel three prophets during the first part of 
this period, viz; Haggai, Zechariah and 
Malachi. 

5. Read Josephus for the history of the 
Jews between the Old and New Testaments. 



Questions. 

1. When was the book of Ezra written 
and by whom ? 

2. What was Cyrus' proclamation? 

3. How many returned from captivity ? 

4. When was the foundation of the tem- 
ple laid? 

5. Tell how the building of the temple 
was hindered? 

6. Who was Zerubbabel? Darius? Ar- 
taxerxes ? 

7. Why did Ezra pray unto God? 

8. Tell about Esther and how she saved 
her people. Who was Ahasuerus ? Morde- 
cai? Where was Shushan? 

9. Give date and authorship of Nehe- 
miah. 



ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 151 

10. What was the condition of the Jews 
in the time of Nehemiah? Who was Nehe- 
miah? 

11. Who was Sanballat? 

12. Who was Belshazzar? What of his 
death? 

13. What length of time intervened be- 
tween the Old and New Testaments? 



Lesson 9. Bieth of Christ to the Ascen- 
sion. 



^^The fullness of time'' has now come. 
Gal. 4 :4. God has brought it to pass as he 
had foretold in the prophets. 

I. Scriptures to 'be Studied, 

1. Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. This 
lesson embraces the history of Christ. 

2. Study carefully these 89 chapters; 
they bring the history down to within ten 
days of the Day of Pentecost, A. D. 30. 



Questions. 

1. Why did four different men write the 
life of the Savior ? 

2. Give a brief history of each of the 
four writers. 

3. Who was the ^^Word"? Jno. 1:1-3. 



152 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 

4. How many generations from Abraham 
to Christ? (Matt.) 

5. What is the meaning of ' ' Emmanuel ' ' ? 
Who foretold Christ as such ? When ? 

6. What was the extent of Herod's do- 
minion when Chrst was born? 

7. Tell about the wise men. Who were 
they? 

8. What was the mission of John the 
Baptist? 

9. Tell about the baptism and temptation 
of Christ. 

10. What lessons from the sermon on the 
mount ? 

11. What city was the Savior's home 
during most of his life? 

12. What was Christ's first miracle? 
Mention the different kinds of miracles 
wrought by Christ. 

13. Why was it that large multitudes fol- 
lowed Jesus ? 

14. Give particulars of sending out the 
twelve under the first conmiission. How did 
the great conmiission differ from this ? 

15. What brought up the subject of the 
^^ blasphemy against the Holy Spirit?" 

16. How many, and what lessons from 
his parables in Matthew 13 ? 



ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 153 

17. Mention the main facts in the life 
of Christ from Matt. 14 to the 24th chapter. 

18. What lessons from the parables of 
the Ten Virgins and Talents ? 

19. How many and what trials of Christ 
before he was crucified^ 

20. Describe the crucifixion, burial and 
ascension. 

21. What were Christ's miracles written 
for? 



Lesson 10. Ascension to the Close of the 
Apostolic Age. 

We begin with the Ascension and trace the 
history of the Apostles down to the death 
of John about A. D. 100. This lesson, there- 
fore, embraces something like 70 years. 

1. Scriptures : Acts, Historical portions 
of the Epistles, Revelations, 

1. We have a more complete history of 
Paul than that of any other of the apostles, 

2. Important lessons in the book of Acts; 
Descent of the Spirit and conversion of the 
3000 ; great persecutions against the church ; 
conversion of Paul; spread of the gospel 
among the gentiles; and important trans- 
actions in Paul's life. 



154 astronomy and the bible. ; 

Questions. 

1. After the Ascension, where did the 
Apostles go? Why? What occurred ten 
days later? 

2. How many and what nationalities 
were present in Jerusalem on the day of 
Pentecost ? 

3. What was the effect of Peter's ser- 
mon that day? 

4. What resulted from another sermon a 
little later? 

5. What can you say of Ananias and 
Sapphira ? Who was Gamaliel ? 

6. What occurred when the disciples 
were multiplying greatly? 

7. Who was Stephen and how did he die ? 

8. How was the gospel introduced into 
Samaria? Who was Philip? Was Simon 
really converted? 

9. What other work did Philip do ? 

10. Mention particulars of the conver- 
sion of Paul, also of Cornelius and his 
household. 

11. Which Herod is mentioned in Acts 
12? What about him? 



ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 155 

12. How were Paul and his company sent 
out to do missionary work among the Gen- 
tiles? 

13. How many journeys did he make? 

14. Mention the countries and cities 
which Paul visited. Where were churches 
established? 

15. Who were Paul's traveling compan- 
ions and co-laborers ? 

16. Tell about the latter part of Paul's 
life. 

17. How many letters did Paul write^ 
and where was he when he wrote them ? 

18. Give the history of Peter. Of James 
and John. Of Timothy. Of Titus. 

19. Where was Patmos ? Cyprus ? Crete ? 
Ephesus? Salamis? Clauda? Neapolis? 

20. Who was Diana ? Agrippa ? Publi- 
us? Manaen? Dionysius? Crispus? Gal- 
lio? Caesar? 



GOD AND HIS WORKS. 
Lesson 1. God in Ceeation. 



Introduction :— God is. The great funda- 
mental doctrine of the Bible is the existence 



156 ASTEONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 

of God as the G-reat and only First Cause 
of all things. 

I. God (Elohim) is the fourth word from 
the beginning of divine revelation, Gen, 1-1, 
and Moses introduces Him as the Creator 
of heaven and earth. 

1. ^^God Almighty" (El Shaddai). Gen, 
27:1; 28:3. 

2. '^ Jehovah'' or the ^^Lord." Ex. 6:3; 
Psa. 83:18; Isa. 12:2; 26:4. 

3. ^^I AM." Ex. 3:14; John 8:58; See 
also Eev. 1 :4. 

II. God is the foundation of all true re- 
ligion, 

1. ^^One Only." Deut. 4:35; 6:4; Isa. 
44:6-10; Mark 12:29; Eph. 4:6. 

2. '^Let us make man." Gen. 1:26, does 
not teach a plurality of Gods, but a plurality 
of persons in the Godhead. See Matt. 28 :18- 
19 ; 1 John 5 :7. 

3. Pharaoh's skeptical question, Ex. 5:2, 
is answered on nearly every page. Isa. 57 :15 ; 
1 King 8:27. 

III. .God in Creation the first thing re- 
vealed. Gen. 1 :1. 

1. There are three theories: (1) All 
things are eternal. (2) All things came by 
chance. (3) God created all things. That' 
the third one is correct, nature^ reason and 



ASTKONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 157 

revelation all testify. Psa. 19:1-2; Isa. 40: 
22; Rom. 1:19-20; Acts 14:17; Psa. 33:6; 
Isa.42:5;Heb. 3:4. 

2. ^^ Worlds were framed bv the Word of 
God." Heb. 11:3; John 1:1-3^ 

3. ^^Thon hast created all things." Eev. 
4 :11 ; Eph. 3 :9 ; Eev. 10 :6 ; Ex. 20 :11. 

4. Study Genesis, first and second chap- 
ters, and the following additional referenc- 
es: Heb. 1:10; Psa. 8:3; 33:6-9; 89:11-12; 
Jer. 10:12; 51:15, 16; Zech. 12:1. 



Questions. 

1. What is the great fundamental doc- 
trine of the Bible ? 

2. What are the Hebrew names of God, 
and what are their meanings ^ 

3. Give the names of some of the gods of 
the heathen, mentioned in the Bible, and 
quote three passages proving there is only 
one true God. 

4. Please give two Scripture answers to 
Pharaoh's skeptical question. 

5. State the different theories as to the 
origin of all things, tell which one is correct^ 
and give proofs. 



158 ASTEONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 

6. What do you understand by this sen- 
tence: ^'The worlds were framed by the 
wordof God r^Heb. 11:3. 

7. Give the order of creation in the first 
chapter of Genesis. 

8. Read Rev. 10:6, and Ex. 20:11, men- 
tion what the Lord made, and tell what you 
understand by ^^six days.'' 

9. What did the Psalmist and Jeremiah 
say as to the origin of all things ? 

10. What do you understand by this ex- 
pression: ^^Let us make man in our im- 
age'?" 



Lesson 2. God in Redemption. 

Introduction:— God is Redeemer and Sa- 
vior. Ex. 15:13; Deut. 9:26; Isa. 5:11; Psa. 
19:14; Luke 1:68; Psa. 37:39. 

I. God Planned the great Scheme of Re- 
demption. 

1. Redemption is not an after thought 
with God. Acts 15:18. 

2. He purposed from the foundation of 
the world to save man. 2 Tim. 1:9; Rom. 
8:28; 16:25-26; Eph. 1:4; 3:11; Tit. 1:2; 1 
Pet. 1:20. 



ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 159 

3. Religion was instituted in the Garden 
of Eden. Gen. 2 :16-17, and all of third 
chapter. 

4. As soon as man sinned, God began to 
reveal His plan concerning man's salvation, 
Study Gen. 3:15, and the references: (1) 
' ' Thy seed, ' ' the wicked. Matt. 3 :7 ; 13 :38 ; 
John 8:44; Acts 13:10. (2) ^^Her seed," 
the Christ. Isa. 7:14; Matt. 1:23-25; Gal. 
3 :16. (3) ^ ^ It shall bruise thy head. ' ' Rom, 
16:29; Heb. 2:14; 1 John 5:5; Matt. 4:1-11. 

5. Sacrifice was introduced in very earli- 
est times. Gen. 4:1-5; (Heb. 11:4); Gen. 
8:20. Every bloody sacrifice looked to 
Christ. Heb. 9 :26. Study the various kinds 
of sacrifices required in the law, and record- 
ed in Exodus and Leviticus. 

6.. During the Patriarchal Dispensation, 
God was teaching a personal or family re- 
ligion. 

(1) Noah and his family. Gen. 6th to 
9th; 1 Pet. 3:18-21. 

(2) Abraham chosen to preserve the true 
religion. His obedience, altars, and sacri- 
fices, are all lessons looking to a more glori- 
ous dispensation. Gen. 12 :1 down to 22 :14; 
Gal. 3:16-18; Jas. 2:21-24; Rom. 4:1-25. 



160 ASTKONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 

(3) Israel's bondage and deliverance 
from Egypt are manifestations of God's re- 
deeming power. 

7. The entire Israelitish history from 
the giving of the law to the deliverance 
from Babylon reveals the mighty hand of 
God in the redemption of his people. 

8. Finally, God's pm.'pose in man's re- 
demption was consiunmated in the person of 
His Son. See Mai. 4 :2 ; Matt. 1 :18-25 ; John 
14:6; Luke 19:10; Acts 2:23; 3:18; and 
read all of the four Gospels. 



Questions. 



1. When did God plan the great scheme 
of redemption? 

2. If God knew that man would sin before 
hand, was man responsible for sinning? 
Why? 

3. When was religion instituted, and 
what was man's condition in the garden? 

4. Explain Gen. 3 :15, and John 8 :44. 

5. What scriptural reason have we for 
believing that God had given instruction 
concerning sacrifice as early as the days of 
Abel? 

6. Mention the various kinds of sacrific- 
es required under the law. 



ASTKONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 161 

7. Give some of God's dealings with the 
people during the Patriarchal Dispensation, 
and tell how long that dispensation lasted. 

8. If the crossing of the Red Sea, the 
giving of the Law, and the setting up of the 
Tabernacle are typical lessons, what great 
fact does each one typify 'f 

9. Give particulars of the division of the 
kingdom about the end of Solomon's reign. 
What lessons from this *? 

10. Were the crucifiers of the Savior re- 
sponsible for putting him to death ? Why ? 



liEssoN 3. God in Revelation. No. 1. 

Introduction : God has revealed himself 
in six ways : Through Voices, Dreams, Vis- 
ions, Angels, Prophets, and His Son. 

I. This lesson embraces the first three. 

1. Sometimes God spoke in an audible 
voice. See Gen. 3 :8-10 ; 1 Sam.. 3 :4 ; 1 Kings 
19:9-18; Matt. 3:17; 17:1-6; 2 Pet. 1:19; 
study also Ezek. 10 :5 ; John 12 :28 ; Acts 9 :1- 
7;Rev. 1:10; Isa. 6:1-9. 

2. At other times, God spoke in visions 
and dreams. Gen 46 :2 ; Num. 12 :6. God 
made rvelations to the following persons 
through dreams and visions : 

(1) Abraham. Gen. 15:1-12. 



162 ASTEONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 

(2) Jacob. Gen. 28:10-20. 

(3) Laban. Gen 31:24-29. 

(4) Joseph. Gen. 37:5-11. 

(5) Pharaoh. Gen. 41:1-36. 

(6) Nebuchadnezzar. Dan. 2:1-49. 

(7) Daniel. Dan. 7:1-4; 8:1-27. 

(8) Zechariah. Zech. 1:1-11. 

(9) Solomon. 1 Kings 3:5. 

(10) Joseph. Matt. 1:20; 2:17. 

(11) Ananias and Paul. Acts 9:10-12; 
2 Cor. 12 :1-21. 

(12) Peter. Acts 10:9-19. 

From these references it is evident that 
God has impressed many lessons on both 
saints and sinners through dreams and vis- 
ions. 



Questions. 

1. How did God reveal himself to Adam? 

2. How did God speak to Samuel and 
F]lijah^ 

3. Tell what God said to Noah before he 
built the ark. 

4. Tell about the revelation God made to 
Abraham. When was this *? How long since 
he left Haran"^ Compare Gen. 15:1-12 with 
12:4. 



ASTEONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 163 

5. What great lesson did God impress 
upon Jacob in a dream. 

6. What can you say concerning the rev- 
elations God made to Laban, Zechariah, Sol- 
omon and Ananias ? 

7. What great lesson in Nebuchadnez- 
zar's dream? What was the ^^ fourth king- 
dom"? Dan. 2:40. What was the ^^ stone 
that was cut out of the mountain"? Dan. 
2:45. 

8. What were Joseph's two dreams? Tell 
how Joseph became a great man in Egypt. 

9. When did Joseph die, and how old was 
he at the time of his death ? What period of 
time does the book of Genesis cover ? 

10. How many and what revelations were 
made to Paul and Peter ? 



Lesson 4. God in Eevelation. No. 2. 

Introduction: We will now study those 
revelations which were made, 

I. Through Angels and Prophets. 

1. Angels. Gal. 3:19; Heb. 2:1-3; Acts 
7:53. Revelations were made through an- 
gels to the following persons : 

(1) Abraham and Lot. Gen. 18th and 
19th chapters. 

(2) Gideon. Judges 6:11-22. 



164 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 

(3) Daniel. Dan. 8:16. 

(4) Mary Magdalene. Matt. 28:1-7. 

(5) The Shepherds. Luke 2:8-14. 

(6) Philip. Acts 8:26. 

(7) Eead also Acts 5:19; 12:7; 10:3; 
27:23,24. 

2. Prophets. God has used many proph- 
ets in revealing his will to mankind. See 
Hosea 12 :10 ; 2 King 17 :13 ; Acts 3 :24 ; Acts 
1:16; 3:18. 

(1) Study next how God spoke to the 
people through Moses, Samuel, and all the 
prophets down to Malachi. See Deut. 34:10; 
Num. 12:6-8; Ex. 33:11; 1 Sam. 3:20; 9:15; 
15:1; Acts 13:20-21. 

(2) Study carefully the opening verses 
of all the sixteen prophetical books from 
Isaiah to Malachi, for the manner in which 
the revelations were made and the time 
when. 



Questions. 



1. How has the Lord communicated his 
will to man % 

2. What important communications did 
angels make to Gideon and Mary Magda- 
lene? What space of time between them? 



ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 165 

3. What did an angel once say to Philip 
the evangelist, and to Paul the Apostle ? 

4. How did the Lord speak to Moses, 
Samuel and Isaiah? 

5. When, where and how did Ezekiel re- 
ceive his communication from the Lord ? 

6. When Hosea prophesied, who were 
kings of Judah, and who was king of Israel ? 

7. When did Joel, Obadiah, and Micah 
deliver their prophecies, and what does Joel 
say of drunkards? (See Margin of Bible 
for dates.) 

8. What new expression is used by Na- 
hum and Habakkuk in the introduction of 
their prophecies? How many years did 
they live apart ? 

9. Who was king when Zephaniah proph- 
esied, and what is the meaning of '^con- 
sume" in Zeph. 1:2? 

10. Did Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi 
deliver their prophecies before, during, or 
after the Babylonian captivity? Give the 
date of each ? 



Lesson 5. God in Revelation. No. 3. 

Introduction: AH previous revelations 
were preparatory to the perfect revelation 
through Christ. 



166 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 

I. ^^God hath spoken unto us iy his 
Son/' Heb. 1:1-2. 

I. The Hebrew letter reveals Christ as 
better than the angels, 1:4— more glorious 
than Moses, 3 :3 ; better than Priests, 3rd to 
7th chapters; surety of better Testament, 
7 :22 ; mediator of better covenant, 8 :6 ; bet- 
ter offering, 10:10-18. 

In all these respects Jesus is a better and 
more complete revelation of God. 

II. Christ is the fullness of Divine Rev- 
elation. Gal. 4:4; Matt. 17:5; John 1:18; 
Matt. 11:27. 

1. The four gospels make known his 
character and work. 

(1) God's love. John 3:14-16. 

(2) The Door, the Way, the Light. John 
10:1-9; 14:6; 8:12; 12:35-46. 

(3) The Water and Bread of Life. John 
4th to 6th chapters. 

(4) That ye might believe. John 20:30- 
31; 2:1-11,18-25. 

2. Acts reveals the establishment of the 
church, law of pardon and gift of the Holy 
Spirit, 2:1-47; 8:5-39;9:l-17; 10:1-48; 16:- 
12-35 ; also the spread of the gospel in Gen- 
tile lands. Acts 11th chapter to the conclus- 
ion of the book. 



ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 167 

3. The Epistles make known practical 
Christian duties and motives to persever- 
ance. Eom. 8 :35-39 ; 1 Cor. 15 :57-58 ; 2 Pet. 
1:5-10; 1 Cor. 10:1-13; 2 Tim. 3:16-17. 

4. The book of Revelation foretells the 
fortunes, trials, and final victory of the 
church. 



Questions. 

1. How is Christ a more perfect revela- 
tion than had been made before ? 

2. What is the meaning of '^Fullness of 
Timer' Gal. 4:4. 

3. What is the design of the ^^Four Gos« 
pels?" 

4. How is Jesus the Door, the Way, and 
the Bread of Life? 

5. How is Jesus the ^^ Light of the 
World,'' and what prophet foretold Him as 
the ^^Sun of Righteousness?" 

6. What do we learn from the study of 
Acts? 

7. Describe Paul's conversion, and tell 
how he was led to believe in Christ. 

8. How many epistles? What do we 
study them for? 

9. How can the christian keep from fall- 
ing? Was our election made sure before 
the world began? 



168 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 

10. What is the design of Revelation? 
Who wrote it? When? Where? 



Lesson 6. God in Revelation. No. 4. 

Introduction:— We come now to the in- 
struments of Divine Revelation, or the 
Books and Writers of the Bible. Remem- 
ber that the Bible is composed of sixty-six 
different books by about thirty-six different 
writers. It was written during a period of 
about 1600 years. 

I. The Pentateuch, consisting of Grene- 
sis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deut- 
eronomy, was written by Moses. See Deut. 
31:24. Time covered, B. C. 4004 to 1451. 

II. The Tivelve Historical Books from 
Joshua to Esther. 

BOOKS writers TIME COVERED 

Joshua Joshua 145 i to 1426 B. C. 

Judges Samuel 1426 to 1 120 B. C. 

Ruth Samuel Unknown. 

I and 2 Samuel . .Samuel 1 120 to 1016 B. C. 

I and 2 Kings . . Unknown . . . 1016 to 588 B. C. 

I and 3 Chronicles. Ezra 4004 to 588 B. C. 

Ezra Ezra 5 36 to 456 B. C. 

Nehemiah Nehemiah. . .445 to 413 B. C. 

Esther Mordecai .... Unknown 

III. The Five Poetical Books from Joh 
to the Song of Solomon, 



ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 169 

BOOKS WRITERS TIME COVERED 

Job Job or Moses. Not certain. 

Psalms.. David, etc. . . 1520 to 400 B. C. 

Proverbs Solomon About 1 000 B. C. 

Ecclesiastei Solomon In liis old age. 

Song of Solomon. Solomon . . . , In his younger days 



Questions. 

1. About how many persons wrote the 
Bible? Name tbem. 

2. Which is first book in order of time? 
Who wrote it ? When ? 

3. Mention the five greatest events re- 
corded in Genesis. 

4. Mention the great events recorded in 
Exodus. 

5. What were the people doing while Mo- 
ses was in the Mount receiving the Law? 

6. What serious mistake did Moses make 
which kept him out of the promised land ? 

7. What New Testament writer mentions 
a great event with which Joshua was con- 
nected? How many years was this after 
Joshua's death? 

8. How many years of history are crowd- 
ed into the book of Judges ? 

9. Give the historical extent of 1 and 2 
Samuel; 1 and 2 Kings; 1 and 2 Chronicles, 



170 ' ASTEONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 

10. Tell what you know of Ezra, Nelie- 
miali and Esther. Who was Artaxerxes ? 

11. Give authors, dates and main char- 
acteristics of the five Poetical books. 



Lesson 7. God in Eevelation. No. 5. 

Introduction:— We continue the study of 
books and writers, or the instruments of 
Revelation. 

I. The Sixteen Prophetieal hooks of the 
Old Testament. 

We class them in three divisions as fol- 
lows: 

1. Those who prophesied before the cap- 
tivity. 

W^EITEES time B. C. . .PLACE. 

Jonah 856-784 Kingdom of Israel 

Joel 800 

Amos 787 

Hosea 810-725 " 

Isaiah 8 10-698 Kingdom of Judah 

Micah. 758-699 

Nahum 720-698 

Zephaniah 628-622 ** " 

2. Those who pro|)hesied during the cap- 
tivity 



ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 171 

WEITEES TIME B. C. PLACE. 

Jeremiah 625-586 Kingdom of Judab 

Habakkuk^ (?) ...... 

Ezekiel 595-574 Chaldea 

Daniel 606-534 Babylon 

Obadiah *• • -588-583 Kingdom of Judah 

(*) Some think Habakkuk lived before 
the captivity. 

3. Those who prophesied after the re- 
turn. 

WEITERS TIME B. C. PLACE. 

Haggai 520 Kingdom of Judah 

Zechariah 520-518...... '• " 

Malachi 435-397 " " 

While Lamentations is a poetical book^ 
yet it is placed with the prophetical books. 
It was written during the captivity by Jer- 
emiah. 



Questions. 



1. How many and which prophets were 
of the Kingdom of Israel ? of Judah ? 

2. "Which is the first prophetical book in 
the order of time ? 

3. How many years from Jonah to Ezek- 
iel? 



172 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 

4. What prophecy does Joel make con- 
cerning the **sim and moon?" Has it been 
fulfilled? When? 

5. Where was Amos when he began to 
prophesy ? 

6. What were the subjects of Obadiah, 
Amos, Hosea, Micah, and Nahmn? 

7. Which prophets were contemporary 
with Isaiah ? 

8. About how long after Hosea began to 
prophesy till the Kingdom of Israel was 
carried into captivity? 

9. How long did the Babylonian captivi- 
ty last ? When was the return ? 

10. What can you say of the book of 
Lamentations ? 

11. What period of time do the prophet- 
ical books cover ? 



Lesson 8. God in Revelation. No. 6. 

Introduction:— We now take up— 

I. The New Testament Boohs and Writ- 
ers. 

A period of about sixty years transpired 
from the time the first New Testament book 
was written till the last one was composed. 



ASTEONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 173 

1. Biographical, The Four Gospels tell 
about the wonderful life of the Savior. 

BOOKS TIME A. D. PLACE 

Matthew 38 Judea 

Mark 63 Rome 

Luke 63 or 64 Achaia 

John Uncertain .... Ephesus 

2. Historical, The Acts of Apostles was 
written by Luke in about A. D. 63 or 64. 

3. Epistolary. The twenty-one letters 
were written to the saved. 

BOOKS TIME A. D. PLACE 

Romans 58 Corinth 

1 Corinthians. ... 57 Ephesus 

2 Corinthians .... 58 Philippi 

Galatians 57 or 58 Corinth 

Ephesians 61 Rome 

Philippians 62 '• 

Colossians 61 * * 

i^& 2 Thessalo'ns. 52 Corinth 

I and 2 Timothy . 64.^ Macedonia 

Titui 65 •' '• 

Philtmon 62 Rome 

Hebrews 62.? Italy 

James 61.^ Judea 

1 Peter 58 Babylon 

2 Peter (?) Rome 

I, 2 and 3 John. .68 or later. . .Ephesus 
Jude 64 Unknown 



174 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 

4. PropJieticdl. The Book of Revelation 
was written by John in A. D. 96 on the Isle 
of Patmos. 



Questions. 



1. What is the design of the first four 
New Testament books ? 

2. Give characteristics of Acts, tell who 
wrote it and why. 

3. How many and which of the epistles 
were written to churches ? 

4. How many of Paul's letters were 
written to individuals % 

5. Why did Paul write a second letter to 
the Corinthians ^. 

6. Where was Ephesus? Philippi? 
Thessalonica ^, Corinth % 

7. Why did Paul write to Timothy and 
Titus? Where did Titus labor for a con- 
siderable portion of his time "? 

8. Who was Philemon? 

9. What was the Hebrew letter written 
for? 

10 What are the characteristics of the 
seven *^ general epistles?" 

11. Who was Jude? Of which James 
was he a brother ? 



ASTEONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 175 

12. Whicli John wrote the Eevelations? 
When? Why? 

13. Who was emperor of Rome at that 
time? 



THE END. 



f 



I 



176 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE. 



ERRATA. 



f 



In spite of the greatest care in correcting the proof, 
some minor errors still appear in the book. The reader 
will meet with certain typographical errors, the omis- 
sions and additions of certain letters, and capitals for 
small letters in a f©w instances. The reader iwill find 
a few of the corrections below: 

Page 16\, sixth line from foot, read Auriga for Aurega. 

Page 17, near foot read Pollux for Pollox. 

Page 21, near the foot, read Draco for Darco. 

Page 2'2, near the top, read northern declination for 
Norther Declinatiotn. 

Page 2 6, middle of page, read Pisces for Pices. 

Page 2 9, tenth line from foot, read Hebrews for He- 
brew. 

Page 32, tenth line from foot, read any for and. 

'Page 41, third line from foot, read certainty for cer- 
tainity. 

Page 83, following 4, read Through for Trough. 

Page 88, seventh line from foot, read diameter for 
liameter. 

Page 104, in head of Lesson 4, read Led for Lead. 

Page 121, third line from top, read awhile for awile. 

Page 1-31, following 3, read Epistolary for Episolary. 

Page 137, eleventh line from top, read Shechem for 
Sechem. 

You will doubtless meet with a few other like er- 
rors, but I trust you will remember that the author 
has had to read and correct the proof while laboring 
under a multiplicity of duties. 



JUL B 1303 



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